


Broken Stars

by Senko



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Depressed Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, or more like enemies to family lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-05-31 10:03:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 61,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19423732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senko/pseuds/Senko
Summary: Post Season 8After the war everyone split apart, barely keeping in touch. Many things were left unexplained and some of the paladins decided to continue helping after Allura's death. Some, like Coran, decided to leave everything behind in order to mourn the fallen princess.Almost everybody kept in touch, all except one of them. Losing the lions, the princess and his team was a big hit for him so he decided to start anew. However, this new beginning would show just how difficult this new life would be.Can he keep his promise? he sure hopes so...





	1. A MIRACLE FROM THE SKY

**A MIRACLE FROM THE SKY**

It was a hell of a way to die, Lance decided.

In reality, all came crashing after Allura’s death. Sure, they saved the universe, but what had been the cost? Allura died and there wasn’t even a body to honor the fallen princess. Coran, sweet old Coran didn’t have a body to mourn. The rest of the paladins missed her leader dearly. And him? He has on his face reminders of her. Those cruel altean marks that were a silent reminder of what could have been.

Allura saved the whole universe.

There was no more Castle, no more Voltron, and even no more friends.

She saved the universe and once she did that, Lance noticed how everything was so silent, that he not only heard it, but felt it too. Her absence was felt by everybody, not only him, and that’s why everybody tried to make the universe a better place in her memory, in her honor.

Keith founded an organization to help people. One that didn’t include him, even if he wanted to help, although he was silently glad that Acxa was at his side. The girl was beautiful and strong, surely a strong support for his friend. He had to admit Keith formed a great team with Lotor’s generals, specifically with Acxa.

Pidge was forming the next defenders of the universe, which he silently hoped and prayed they weren’t needed. Allura didn’t die just for another generation go through the same fate, plus she already went through so much it just wasn’t fair if another war started so soon. He could comprehend why she wanted to be prepared though.

Hunk was an intergalactic chef. One so good that not even Chef Ramsay could compare, and no, he wasn’t just saying it because Hunk was his best friend, but because Hunk managed to form allies in other planets thanks to his cooking abilities. Shay was a great alien to be next to his friend, and honestly, Hunk needed Shay at his side, she made everything seem better when she was around his friend.

Shiro got married. He totally didn’t see that one coming since nobody knew his husband (and honestly, he was even more surprised about Shiro marrying another man, because he never indicated that he liked someone, and even more surprising that it was of the same sex). Shiro was not active anymore at the Garrison, he was a full time house-husband. He deserved his happiness after Adam’s tragedy. He was still his hero for enduring a war that cost him a lot.

Coran was at New Altea with him, teaching the new generation of Alteans about how great the original planet was, how great was Allura and all he knew about the Castle and the Lions. Sometimes he asked Lance to participate, but not always since he now lived at a farm and had duties to attend to. Despite the older man trying to look happy he always had this sad aura around him, he could only guess how much Allura’s death affected the poor man.

The night the lions departed, and his friends went their separate ways leaving him at New Altea with Coran, he tried to be positive but it wasn’t the same anymore. Coran was busy with the new altean school, and creating a new society from scratch. And him? He only had junipers and altean marks to remind himself of Allura. That was part of the reason he didn’t went back to Earth. He didn’t want to worry his family.

He always thought he wasn’t needed, a seventh wheel if you want. But it was true.

One month later and no one from Voltron even send him a text to ask how he was fairing. He lost the girl he loved, _a girl he even introduced to his family_ , and no one asked if he was ok, not even Coran, which he must confess hurt like a bitch since he was in the same planet, heck, he was even at a walking distance from him and he considered the older man an older uncle, their space uncle if he must confess, and even him hadn't say anything to him.

A month had passed and he still couldn’t look at his marks, every time he saw them, he broke down crying.

After three months he could look at the mirror without crying. Three months without facial mask or any kind of skin care, he admitted he looked fatal. He lost weight, which made him look sick, his hair was getting longer so he needed a haircut ASAP, plus he knew he had cut all communications with the others although if he was being honest the others didn’t send messages too, so it wasn’t only his fault.

By the fourth month he decided to go out more, he still didn’t interact a lot with others and always with make-up on his face to cover his marks. If any altean survivor spoke to him, he interacted in a kind way but he didn’t actively start the interaction, not yet anyways. He knew that sooner or later he needed to interact once more with other beings (not necessarily human beings, since New Altea had many different alien races living in it), he just wasn't prepared yet.

It took almost a year to communicate with the others. Nobody guessed he was so bad emotionally, they saw the physical change but didn’t say anything, emotionally however they didn’t know since they saw him joke and still be the Lance they remembered. A Lance that joked and flirted right and left, without knowing he acted just like he knew they wanted him to act.

It was a year later that Hunk came to New Altea, with happy news. He was marrying Shay and was inviting people to his wedding, so he came to invite Coran and Lance, since they were the only ones missing an invitation.

-Man, you look different. Did the altean marks disappear? - he asked while happily hugging Lance.

-No, they still are on my face but I wear make up to look as I did before…- he didn’t end the sentence, judging by Hunk’s expression, the taller boy knew what Lance meant.

-A whole year. We saved the universe a year ago. I still can’t believe it. You look… older- he wanted to really say that Lance looked like death ran over him or was already dead but he didn’t have the heart to do it. He lost the girl who finally returned his feelings and part of him was scared.

Looking at Lance he only saw clothes that were at least two sizes bigger than needed, his friend had eye bags and his body language basically screamed for help. And Hunk wanted to give it but after not sending him a note or text for months, he didn’t know how to do it without being noisy. He had been busy working in many planets and falling in love. He had taken Shay to so many dates before deciding to marry that he had forgotten to contact his friends once in a while.

-Hunk, we are almost a year older by now, and not just me, but Coran, Keith, Shiro, Pidge and you too- he tried to laugh it out but couldn’t do it. One part of him told him that everyone else was happy, that he was the only one being a party pooper.

Keith was with Acxa sending help and being nice to others. He was one of the paladins that changed the most. He finally showed what he was feeling and actually it was kind of nice. The one updating him about Keith was Krolia herself. She knew they were friends, and she knew Keith tended to be brusque with words, sometimes being insensitive, so Krolia decided enough was enough and send Lance updates.

Kolivan and Krolia were one of the few people that send notes and text to him. Kolivan was the one that suggested using make-up to cover his altean marks, although through the process he reminded Lance that with or without the altean marks he was still the red paladin of Voltron and as such, he was a friend. Krolia was the one that told him how everyone was doing since she frequently visited the others.

-I know man. I still can’t believe Shiro married Curtis. If I’m being honest, I thought he liked Keith- Lance laughed hard at that one, causing Hunk to ask a silent question just using his eyebrows.

-Hunk, my man, the love of my life… They are like brothers, like you and me. And no offense dear, but I don’t love you romantically speaking. Shiro had a clear type- seeing his friend so confused made him smile –He likes tan skin, brown hair and a nice body, and by nice, I mean the muscular type of nice- he described both Adam and Curtis.

-Then, instead of Keith being his type… Are you saying you are more Shiro’s type? - he asked innocently enough, in reality he wanted his friend to blush. Picking on him like this was nice and welcomed. Being on other planets far away from his friends was also taking a tool on Hunk.

-Wh…What are you saying? - Lance sttutered, he couldn’t believe his ears. Was Hunk saying what he thought he was saying? –I told you, he likes the muscular type, yep I might have the tan skin and brown hair but I’m not the muscular type, Keith is more the muscular type, shame he hides his body under all that clothes- noticing Hunk’s glance he turned red.

-Aaaaand, how do you know that? – a happy tone coming from Hunk and a groan from Lance were heard.

-Easy, Krolia sent pictures of Keith sending help to Khel, a planet allied to the Blade- taking out a photograph, he showed Hunk how lean and muscular was Keith. He was so fit. In perfect form, and even Lance couldn’t deny it.

-Krolia… sent you pictures of his son shirtless? - the question of _why_ didn’t go unnoticed, but still Lance didn’t answer right away. Looking at it from Hunk’s perspective, he kind of understood why his friend was questioning Krolia’s actions.

-Yeah. As an update on Keith since and I quote her, her son couldn’t keep a cactus alive, much less friendship with other human beings- hearing Hunk laugh he knew his answer was ok, at least by Hunk’s standards.

-Well, she isn’t wrong. Man, still a shirtless picture…- he was still laughing.

_Well at least he looks nice, I can’t really say anything about it since I know I’m in no better shape, baggy clothes, eye bags, I look sick and looking at the altean marks I feel sicker._

-And… changing the topic, what brings you to Lancey Lance’s Farm? I love surprise visits but now I am kind of curious as to why- he wished to have never asked the question. Hunk, his best friend was getting married, and was inviting him to his wedding. His best man was his boss at the space mall since they now worked together opening restaurants all around the universe.

It hurt that he didn’t choose Lance, but he understood it. It was a way to show his boss about human traditions such as a wedding inside a church. He understood it yet he didn’t like it.

-Married? – everybody was getting married, starting with Shiro, now Hunk. What was next? Keith? Wait, that was possible since he was with Acxa and Acxa was a beauty. Lance could admit that anyone with a pair of working eyes can admit Acxa was extremely beautiful, and he admitted that Acxa was prettier than Allura or Nyma and both were gorgeous.

-It seems only Keith and I aren’t getting married. Since we both know Pidge, and she probably won’t marry anyone. Congratulations man! Shay won the lottery with you. I still remember when you first met her and denied having feelings for her- Hunk agreed with his friend. Also, he hasn’t talk with the others but probably visiting Lance and Coran was a good idea to do before his wedding. He decided then to contact the others without Lance knowing. He was going to surprise him.

-I know, but I was scared, I only knew humans, starting to feel something, friendship or love or really anything for an alien was extremely weird for me. I am still impressed you weren’t fazed about aliens and right off the bat you started flirting with alien girls… and a couple of alien boys- he laughed so hard that Lance blushed.

-In my defense, I didn’t know they were guys until they spoke to me, and even then, they were pretty and were cool with my mistake instead of being offended, which I must add was a plus- said in a defensive tone Lance while crossing his arms.

-I know man, but you must admit that you flirted left and right. Actually, I thought that from all the paladins you were going to get married first- Hunk confessed to his friend while trying not to speak about Allura in front of him. He wanted to make sure Allura wasn’t a sensitive topic.

-Knowing you, you probably thought I was going to have kids first- the casual way in which Lance spoke told him that maybe family wasn’t as a sensitive topic as maybe Allura could be.

-Well, yeah… You were totally in love with Allura. And knowing how you flirted I was thinking you were going to have a big family- Lance came from a big family so, surely a big family would be something that could be in Lance’s mind.

-Nah, I’m not mature enough to have kids of my own. I have seen my nieces and no thank you, I want to live another day. But if you and Shay are thinking about kids then I can be their babysitter for a while- joking he let know that even if he desired a family probably, he won’t be getting one soon.

They continue to talk for a few hours more, Hunk excused himself to go see Coran and hopefully arrive at his hotel and tell Shay the good news. Also, he wanted to talk to everyone via video since after watching Lance he was sure his friend was in no good condition. He was worried.

-Enjoy your evening with Shay, but you should at least make it romantic on your honeymoon- that earned a blush from Hunk as well as a fast retreat from his friend. He was alone once again. It seemed that this had been his first real contact with someone, he had missed Hunk and only noticed until now that he had seen him again.

He looked up at the sky sighing and noticed something strange, something seemed to be falling. A star? A meteorite? It probably wasn’t a lion. Those were gone, each lion to a different part of the universe. Pidge managed to put a tracker on them in case they were needed in the future but if it was a lion surely Pidge would have already contacted him or Coran.

Or probably just Coran.

After saving the universe she no longer speaks to him. The last he knew, thanks to Kinkade, was that she created a robot that went by the name of Chip. She probably liked to watch cartoons like Chip and Dale and that’s why his name was Chip.

Or probably she got the name Chip from a literal chip. Still, the fact was that if it weren’t because Kinkade told him about how after months Pidge completed a humanoid robot by the name of Chip, he wouldn’t even know.

And it hurt.

It hurt because apparently everybody knew Chip. Even the Paladins sans him. Always left in the dark.

Deciding to investigate he went to his farm, and took out a telescope. And it looked like a meteorite, so he went to investigate to the probable site of impact, in case it even made it to land. What he saw when he arrived shocked him to his core.

There, in the middle of literally nowhere, there were two babies. Not any kind of babies, mind you. One had purple skin and silver hair, the other had dark skin, silver hair and altean marks. No ship around the kids and no parents near.

-A…Allura? - with a terrified voice he asked, knowing that a kid probably wouldn’t be able to understand or answer anyway, but the baby kept surprising him. A smile from the baby girl and gently touching his hand, trying to hold It but her hand has very small and all it could grasp was his pinky.

-Then… Lotor? - the look he got from chibi Lotor was one of amusement. It seemed like a normal baby. He could swear that the little one had smirked at him!

Lance didn’t plan on having kids. Hell, he wasn’t even in a relationship. And now, two babies…He could take care of them. Realizing that Allura was staring at his face he removed the make-up, she probably would be pissed if she discovered that he tried to cover his altean marks since she died.

-Let’s get you home guys. I’m no rival to Hunk’s cooking but I can make you something tasty- and hopefully would get an idea of what to do with them. Internally he was freaking out.

Arriving at the small house, one could see Lance lived here. Everything was in order, no dust or any place dirty. Photos from his time with Voltron placed all over the place, even the selfies he took in the planets that they rescued from the Galra. The house smelt like junipers, he collected a lot of them to put on the altar he created for Allura. The altar had a few photos, one even of the only date they had, and a dish with food. This specific part of the house attracted the attention of the little princess.

-I thought I lost you… This is a small altar, a memorial of sorts. For me to remember you- he explained with a pained look on his face. He never considered the possibility of Allura getting out somehow alive. And now she came back in the form of a baby, same as Lotor. Both looked around the same age, probably only a few months old. And that broke his heart.

_Always Lotor._

Allura was probably never meant to be with him. This just confirmed his theory, one that he made when the final battle started and she started to see Lotor all over the place, even when she said time and time again that the one she loved was Lance.

He knew Lotor wasn’t born evil per se, he did what was best at the moment, but later it turned crueler when Zarkon involved in his way of ruling. And a young Lotor was no match to Zarkon, even he knew that.

Lance knew he should probably tell the others, and tell Coran asap about this situation but an idea crossed his mind. A true smile lit his face.

He was going to raise them.

He was going to become their father.

And in the event of Allura falling in love with Lotor, this time he would be supporting her.

-Allura, Lotor, I will be your papa- he said happily.

After deciding that the babies couldn’t sleep on the couch and much less on the floor, he put them to rest in his bed, while he made a crib with the farm materials he had. He was nervous, he knew it wouldn’t be the same as babysitting for a few hours for his nieces.

And he knew he needed help if he wanted to keep it a secret. More since Hunk came a few hours ago just to tell him he was invited to a wedding. He could only imagine his friend’s reaction if suddenly he called and said something along the lines of _“Hey Hunk, buddy, I have two babies so I need more invitations. Are babies even allowed to go?”._

Yeah, that could only go so well.

So, he did what he could. He called Krolia.

-Krolia, I need your help… - he couldn’t finish the sentence when Krolia asked what happened and if the Blade was needed as a support fighting an enemy.

-Wait, wait, wait… Nobody is fighting. Well maybe I am fighting a losing battle, but that’s another topic. What I need help with is with information on how to raise alien babies. Do they act the same as human babies? Do they require specific things? I have nieces and look after them from time to time but babies can be tricky and I don’t know if aliens have powers or need a certain environment- he said explaining his situation, situation that even he couldn’t grasp completely.

-So, you want me to believe that two alien babies, and not just any alien but Princess Allura and Prince Lotor, landed on New Altea and you just decided to be their father? – Keith’s friend was unbelievable. Keith tried to convince her of it but this was downright ridiculous. A young adult raising a couple of alien babies was just ridiculous. Probably she should have trusted more Keith when he described Lance.

-Um…yes? That’s literally what happened, saw something falling, and discovered them alone near my farm- his explanation sounded crazy even to him, but it was true.

-Ok, let’s suppose I believe you, which is hard given the circumstances. Why are they alive? - that was a question not even Lance knew the answer for. Everybody saw how Allura and Honerva sacrificed themselves in order to save the universe, hell even by then Lotor was already dead.

-That, I don’t know – he said holding his phone and opting for showing her a video of the babies sleeping.

-They are truly alive – he wanted to say that yeah, they were alive and that it sucked that now Allura was a baby, he was going to be his father so no more romantic feelings for the girl. And now Lotor had a chance to make everything alright. To have a normal relationship with Allura.

He wanted to cry.

He just got back the girl he loved just to find out that probably this was the universe’s way of telling him that Allura and him were not meant to be.

-Hunk invited me to his wedding, I haven’t told anyone about them. What should I do Krolia? I can’t keep them a secret, I don’t want to, but it is also for their safety. There are still many races that can’t forgive Lotor, if they suddenly know that he is alive and in a very vulnerable form they would come to kill him. And nobody is born being evil. He deserves an opportunity- he concluded.

-Kolivan and I will help you, it was a shame but we turned down Hunk’s invitation since we are busy constructing a new Galra empire, however, we can take care of them for a few days. You can go in our place. – she said with a smile, the boy in front of him was so nice that she truly wanted to help him and Kolivan was going to help too, even if he wasn’t very keen to the idea of helping Lotor.

-Thank you Krolia. I owe you one- he was relieved by the news of Kolivan and Krolia helping him to keep it a secret.

-This isn’t free. I want to be their godmother. Kolivan probably would want to examine Lotor and Allura, to see if they keep their memories or if they were reborn without memories- she explained.

-Sounds fair. Really, thank you. I will be giving you updates on how everything goes with them- he promised.

The call ended and he was wondering how everything would turn out. That night he couldn’t sleep, the babies cried every few hours asking to be fed, and they wanted to play with him. Both were curious about his marks. Marks similar to the ones they had.

Lance tried to think of a way to explain his marks. He was fully human, at least he was last time he checked, now that he had the marks he wasn’t so sure about being purely human. Maybe Coran would help him determine if he became part altean or if his marks were marks done symbolically to represent his love for Allura.

Morning came too soon.

Working at the farm was no easy task, chores started at 5 a.m., time were he did the heaviest tasks, and move the heaviest things since by that hour the sun wasn’t as strong as later. He did all his task in time before the babies woke up.

By 11 o’clock he was so tired he just wanted to sleep for a few thousand years, but the babies required constant attention. He wanted to have the babies examined, just to be sure both were healthy, but he wasn’t so sure about asking Coran about it.

He knew the man’s pain of being unable to say goodbye to the princess. He didn’t want to give him false hope of Allura being alive. The only probable thing to do would be to accept Kolivan’s help and see if the babies were physically fine.

Chances were, it was near impossible it really was Lotor and Allura, still he wanted to believe.

Kolivan arrived a few days later with a doctor. Coran felt insulted since Lance was like a son to him, for this newcomer to arrive and just casually say that he was going to be Lance’s doctor for indefinite time made Coran furious.

Lance tried to explain the situation without giving away the existence of the babies but found it near impossible. Kolivan just pronounced him his adopted son, with a small smile. Coran didn’t get to punch the Blade’s leader, since Lance stopped him.

-Thank you Kolivan, does this mean Keith and I are now half-brothers? – he asked joking, trying to calm Coran.

-Half-brothers? Why? – Kolivan didn’t understand which made Coran smile explaining why Lance thought that and what kind of relationship both could have since they were always fighting.

-I still fail to understand – That caused Lance and Coran to burst laughing. A little pat on the shoulder from Coran saying it wasn’t his fault not knowing how humans lived while Lance started asking him if he could call him papa.

-That’s fine by me, but why? – he eyed him suspiciously while Coran looked betrayed. He calmed down when Lance explained to him that Coran was always going to be his loving Space Uncle.

Coran left a little after the small exchange between Kolivan and Lance, feeling as if the leader of the Blades had something important to discuss with Lance and Coran was not included. Little by little he felt Lance had changed but couldn’t determine if it was for the best or not.

-Kolivan, I owe you big time. So this is your doctor? – he asked eyeing the masked stranger, still searching for a clue to determine if he was a nice doctor or the babies would hate him.

-Yes, his name is Sven, he is human. I found him when he was almost dying. He told me he was a doctor on Earth and has been curing aliens for many years, under the care of the Blade- he explained while Lance smiled.

-Nice to meet you Sven. The name is Lance. I was the blue turned red paladin of Voltron. – he guided them to his room while thinking Sven looked a lot like Shiro. –And these are Lotor and Allura, my babies- he presented two babies. While Allura seemed to be fast asleep Lotor was awake looking at everything as if looking for a threat.

-They seem almost like newborns. Hardly a few months old- he started to examine them. Both were perfectly healthy for falling from the sky. Such explanation was not totally accepted by Kolivan but if that was fine for Krolia, he would not question it.

Sven had been looking at Lance. Lance looked oddly familiar.

-Have we met before? – He questioned when Kolivan stepped outside for a few minutes.

-I… don’t think so? Maybe I seem familiar due to all the Voltron stuff you know? We even put a show to promote peace and all that- he wouldn’t forget his performance on a rope and all the fun that was.

-Strange. I believe I have met you before. Must be my imagination…- he inspected the babies and found nothing suspicious. He even gave a few tips to Lance on how to take care on alien babies, which Lance greatly appreciated.

Once the doctor went back to the Blade’s infirmary, he turned to Kolivan.

-Thank you. Now I know the babies are healthy and how to look out for them. This is a really big help- Kolivan let out a little smile, he was starting to like the blue paladin.

The two talked for about a few hours, moments in which Lance fed the babies and impressed Kolivan since in Kolivan’s eyes, Lance was barely a child himself. They talked about Keith’s missions and how the Blade was travelling to different planets in order to restore the peace.

Lance asked about Acxa and the rest of Lotor’s generals since he was still a little bit wary of them, but Kolivan assured him that Keith had a great team, all the girls were very strong and Keith was a great leader. Lance still doubted it a little since his experience with Keith as a leader wasn’t very good, but he recognized he probably improved since his time as Voltron’s team leader.

Kolivan knew something was up with Lance since he rarely contacted anybody. Even Keith had told him about how worried he was about the other male, and now he saw why everybody was worried. The kid looked sick, all the time covering his marks, marks that now were visible without the makeup.

He wondered about the marks too. Since Allura’s death the paladin hadn’t been happy, and he understood it. He lost a loved one, one who fought alongside him this war, one who was so strong that managed the unthinkable. She saved all the universes.

-I can see you staring, you know? – Lance meant it as a joke but he felt exposed now that the marks were in plain sight.

-Sorry, it’s just that it’s kind of weird to see you with the marks. You usually cover them- Kolivan tried to be respectful of Lance’s feelings but curiosity won over him.

-Yeah, I like them better covered with makeup, but I believe little Allura would kill me if she didn’t see the marks. After all these marks were her present to me, a farwell one- one he was still bitter about it.

-So, you left them on plain sight for the little princess? – now that he thought about it, it was a kind gesture coming from him. To see everyday marks that reminded you of something that could never be, he could only guess how painful that was for him.

-Basically? Yep. Everything for her – the devotion in his voice made Kolivan’s heart melt. The guy was very nice, it was hard to think of him as the sharpshooter, a warrior, a person skilled in killing using a weapon.

-You love her- it wasn’t a question but he still heard Lance answer that yes, he loved her very much. Considering everything that happened until this day, he wondered how the younger one was fairing. He knew Keith and knew that he used training as a way to sleep exhausted. Shiro even left everything related to the war, even the Garrison, in order to get married and have a peaceful life, which he still wondered if it was fulfilling for him. Pidge barely slept, he knew this due to all the technological inventions she made in just months. Hunk was a master chef all across the galaxies. Coran even taught young alteans about Altea and how wonderful the original planet was. But Lance? He just saw a kid, trying to appear as an adult. Adult that now had two children and no support.

He worried about him. Keith described him as a flirt, lively, basically happiness would look like him if happiness had a human body. But he saw neither. Lance was quiet, he joked of course but was a peaceful joking, and he didn’t flirt anymore.

He wondered sometimes if the mental health of the paladins and war survivors was even fine. He knew his mental health wasn’t very good but Krolia did an awesome job at being at his side and helped to ground him when nightmares became too much.

Watching Lance, he realized that even Keith, who was very mature for his age, looked like Lance. Tired. Absolutely drained from life. He was a very determined boy but his coping mechanism was better. He exercised, while Lance looked almost sick (and he had to admit that the doctor’s visit was also something he did for Lance, he loved the guy).

-You know? I once tried to cut the marks from my face. My mom and sister stopped me. That’s why I live alone here, in a planet so far away from Earth, I felt guilty about making them suffer after the war. I promised to never try it again, hence the makeup. But I never once thought that Allura was going to fall, literally, from the sky. So very near me. – His voice cracked and Kolivan understood. Love was a powerful weapon. Lance was very powerful and he didn’t even know it.

-I admire you. Probably in your place I would have committed suicide- he knew for a fact that if anything happened to Krolia, he would probably die with her. And Lance believed him, he knew Kolivan didn’t make anything half assed.

Lance was amazed about how everyone he knew would give up their life so easily. He couldn’t. He wasn’t scared about dying, or if it was going to hurt, he was afraid for the ones being left behind. When he saw his mother crying, begging him to stop, he stopped. That level of hurt he wouldn’t wish it even to his enemy.

On the other hand, he had already died once. He wasn’t so sure about how to feel about that. He died and didn’t feel any pain. He didn’t even have the time to worry about the ones left behind. Death was so final, that he hadn’t expected to be able to live again. He was thankful to Allura, she made a miracle and now he was going to pay her back.

-But now I have two reasons for living- he said talking about the babies. Kolivan only nodded. He didn’t have any children yet so he couldn’t completely understand Lance, but he was grateful for the babies arrival.

-Powerful reasons. And very valid ones. You probably didn’t even consider taking care of children being so young yourself- he still couldn’t understand completely the young paladin.

-Nope, never considered having children, much less when the war was so…. extreme- he remembered planets being eliminated, people dying and even killing people. He wasn’t as innocent as people believed him to be.

-Considering how everybody describes you, you are more mature than they say- he was amazed by that fact, even Keith seemed to describe Lance as an airhead that sometimes had brilliant moments. He had Lance as a second in command because he was the only one that could control his temper, and for that Kolivan was amazed with the boy.

-No wonder. I know how people describe me and I’m not surprised that you are surprised- he laughed, it hurt to admit that everybody had zero expectations for him.

Kolivan was silent. He saw the pain in the eyes of the young paladin but didn’t say anything. He was going to help the young even if it was the last thing he did.

-Well that would be all for today. If you need anything else call Krolia or me directly, we will try to come as soon as possible- he wanted to add Keith to the list of people that could be trusted with such a big secret but decided that it wasn’t for him to decide, but for Lance. And right now Lance didn’t want many people to know, not even close friends as Coran and Hunk. That spoke volumes.

-Thank you Kolivan, I really appreciate it- he was being sincere. He saw Kolivan go and went to take care of the babies.

At first the was very careful handling them, as if they were made of crystal, but after a few days he got more and more confident and even took them to his chores. At least the ones were he didn’t interact with people. Lance was amazed at how good Kolivan was with them.

This motivated Lance to take excellent care of the babies, unfortunately it not always goes as planned.

The first time Lotor got sick he got worried, but somehow managed to take care of him. He guessed both were sick due to the quintessence they were exposed, he knew since he sometimes got phantom pains from the time he died, Coran had explained to him recently that it was a consequence of being revived by Allura using her own quintessence and magic. He now had to learn to live with random pains here and there.

Both babies were very observant, and very fast learners. Lance wasn’t very sure about them being very fast learners or if it was their memories speaking. Did they even have their past life memories with them? Did they know who he was? Maybe they did and it was the reason they didn’t cry a lot and were very peaceful, even with Kolivan who had seen them only once and who he must admit had a scary face even when he wasn’t so scary once you talked with him.

At first he was hesitant about bathing the babies, this was still Allura and Lotor. He could only imagine Allura’s face once he told her what he did. He took photos and played with them as if they were normal children.

When the time came, it was time for Hunk’s wedding and he was hesitant to leave the babies to Krolia and Kolivan, even when he knew they were going to be in excellent hands. Still, he left them with them and went to the wedding.

He saw a beautiful wedding, Shay looked great, Hunk was shining like the sun and the ceremony was very nice. He was still hurt about not being his best man but he could live with it. He saw also familiar faces such as Keith and Shiro, who were so deep in conversation that didn’t notice him trying to greet them, as well as Pidge and Matt who were joking about Earth’s wedding traditions with Shay who looked like she believed them and finally Coran, he was chatting with many diplomats that were there to congratulate Hunk.

The war ended almost a year ago but he still felt like the seventh wheel. Hunk and basically everybody was busy. All but him, that is. Nobody recognized him nor talked to him. He started to wonder why did he even come in the first place.

Hunk saw his friend all alone and decided to greet him once he got a free moment. He recognized that look and saw how Lance looked at Keith and Shiro, Matt and Pidge and even Coran. He knew his friend was still healing but he still worried knowing he was living all alone.

-Hey, Lance. Thank you for coming man. This is a big day for me- he greeted his surprised friend, which made him wonder if maybe Lance thought nobody was going to greet him.

-This is your big day buddy, of course I wouldn’t miss it- he laughed and congratulated his friend. They talked for a few minutes until Hunk went with the rest of his guest. Lance could appreciate why he was considered a master diplomat chef. He was very good with people.

Keith and Shiro kept talking for the most part of the night. Lance didn’t want to interrupt so he went home early, he deeply missed his babies. Yes, his babies, because since that night he found them, they became a very important part of him, they became his new family.

-Hey guys, have you greeted Lance? He also came- Hunk said while interrupting their conversation. He knew that both considered Lance a dear member of their space family.

-No, I haven’t seen him. I saw Shiro and started talking to him and asking him questions about his marriage. I still can’t believe he got married to Curtis. I always thought he was going to marry Adam but after his death… I thought he wouldn’t marry- and Keith didn’t want to admit it but he was curious about the marriage between the two. He knew Shiro liked guys, and he wanted to ask him how did he knew he liked a guy, because he was staring to think that his feelings for Lance were something more than just friendship, plus he wanted to know why he was rejected. Did Curtis had something he lacked? Probably. When he got rejected he never spoke to Shiro again, this was just a little interrogation on his part to find what he needed to fix on himself.

-Adam is still a tender topic. I understand that he wanted to protect me and spend my last days with me but he couldn’t stop me from living my dream. I still remember the Kerberos mission fondly, I got to know many great people and for me, that was truly my start as part of Voltron. Curtis, is different to Adam, if anything he is a mix between Adam and Lance- he joked, knowing that Adam was serious, same as Curtis on the exterior, but inside, Curtis was as lively as Lance. And he appreciated the balance.

-You know, I always thought Lance was going to marry first, but I guess that after Allura’s death…- Hunk didn’t finish that sentence, everyone knew the meaning of it. After Allura’s death Lance changed, he didn’t joke as much as before, he became a loner, so much that Pidge joking said he looked like Keith 2.0.

-Allura’s death hit us hard, but for him was harder… I haven’t talked to him since the end of the war- admitted Shiro and Keith, Hunk saw Coran, Pidge and Matt and everybody gathered under his guidance, all with guilty faces.

All were worried about Lance. They were sure Lance came, since he spoke for a few minutes with Hunk but after that and maybe the hour they spoke about their lives, specially about Shiro’s wedding that caught them by surprise they noticed that their friend had gone.

-Has anybody spoken to him? - Keith questioned, since he knew Kolivan had visited Lance recently with the Blade’s best doctor, he didn’t want to admit it but he was worried about his health, he didn’t look very healthy.

-No, I just saw him with Kolivan the other day. He dared to see another doctor, when you all know that I’m the best doctor there is in all New Altea- Coran was still a little bit hurt and everybody noticed, since it wasn’t like Coran to get pissed just because Lance decided to see another doctor.

-Doctor? Is he sick? - Pidge questioned, since that was probably the reason he left early. If he was sick, then he couldn’t enjoy long parties and Hunk’s wedding party was going to last for days if the music didn’t stop soon.

-Not that I know of, he always brushes me off. Honestly, is like he is afraid to ask for help- Coran was playing with his mustache while in deep thinking.

-Well he doesn’t like to ask for help, nor to look weak- Hunk admitted, but he was getting worried. Lance loved parties, and he would never leave early one, much less his best friend’s wedding party. Pidge, Keith and Shiro seemed to think the same.

-Let’s look for him- proposed Ketih which was shut down by Shiro.

-No. It would be unfair to Shay if his husband suddenly disappeared on their special day- Hunk, Pidge and Keith were about to argue while Coran was still trying to know why a wedding party was so important, since on Altea there was no such thing as a wedding party. On Altea you just informed the king to ask for his blessing, and that was it. You were married. Since King Alfor died, he wanted to be the one to do the honors to Lance and Allura, since both were like his children.

-I think Shay would understand…or not- a look from Shiro quieted him.

-You must enjoy your day Hunk. Leave this to Keith, Pidge and me. If we need extra help we can ask Coran and the Blades- he told him how he never enjoyed that with Curtis since he was still part of the Garrison while he wasn’t anymore. To have a schedule was hard and now Hunk could enjoy being able to be with Shay. He didn’t want him to miss on important dates.

-Ok, but if anything happens, tell me- he asked seriously. Shiro gave his word and the trio went to look for Lance. Keith telling them where he lived. They had been living in peace so they were deciding how to meet their friend. Shiro decided to talk face to face and Keith agreed.

The way to Lance’s home was very quiet, everybody trying to figure out what was going on with their best friend. When they arrived they were surprised to see Krolia and Kolivan’s spaceship. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as they thought. And yes, they were feeling guilty about not speaking to him much sooner.

Keith looked through the window and saw a pair of babies. Krolia was giving them to Lance and Lance accepted them as if they were his own babies.

-Guys… Does Lance… Is Lance…? - he didn’t know how to phrase it. Surely if he got married Lance would tell them, right? Same as with having babies even if he never got married. And better yet, why did his mom gave him the babies? Were they…?

-What Keith? - asked Pidge and saw what had Keith speechless and in deep thinking. She couldn’t believe it either. They were kind of far but she was 100% sure that the babies weren’t completely human. –The bastard got someone pregnant. He has two babies!!!- Pidge hissed, she was pissed. She wanted to be the aunt of the babies, and was pissed because Lance never told them.

While Shiro surely thought that was very possible, but he was also sure that Lance wouldn’t be so careless, so he wanted to side with him but the evidence was very clear.

Krolia and Kolivan heard all the commotion and laughed, Keith being so surprised was funny to them. Although given the reason it was to be expected. The first time Kolivan almost had a heart attack and Krolia a laughing fit. And now Lance was panicking since he wasn’t sure about how to explain two alien babies to his friends.

-Knowing Shiro he is probably going to give me the sex talk…- muttered Lance while trying to stop Krolia’s laughing fit. She would never understand why he didn’t want that talk with him just yet. He was sure Keith never had that talk with his mother.

-Come on, don’t be ashamed. The sex talk is pretty much common knowledge. I gave the talk to Keith while we were together- now Lance could picture how mortified Keith would be. He knew Keith wasn’t a social butterfly and probably never thought about having that kind of talk but just imagining his face was priceless.

-Guys if this were an undercover mission, you could be spotted from miles away… You can enter, you know? - he said while looking at them from the window, just waiting for the storm of questions that were sure to come.

-You got someone pregnant? – was the first question he heard, honestly it hurt to think that they believed he was capable of doing just that and just having the babies by himself without telling them, although just by looking at how he hadn’t told them yet about baby Allura and baby Lotor, he understood their reaction.

-Who is the mother? – ah, a very tricky question since there technically wasn’t a mother. Could he answer that the sky? The universe? A mysterious form of power? Magic? Very tricky indeed.

Keith was trying to not ask questions, it hurt that his friend didn’t trust them to just be able to tell them about the babies. He also was worried about who the mother was. Had Lance finally moved on from Allura? Or was it just a mistake due to very high hormones?

-There is no mother- that was the closest answer to the truth that he could find. That shocked everyone into silence, thinking that maybe the girl just gave birth and left or maybe died giving birth.

Lance saw their faces and wanted to sigh, it honestly wasn’t as bad as they thought, probably they were thinking about the worst case scenario and while he was grateful that they were supportive, he hated the sad looks they had. It honestly wasn’t that bad, and the babies were very nice company.

-Lance… You know you can trust us, right? – it was Shiro, he admired Shiro for being so mature, even offering to help with the babies.

-I trust you guys… I just don’t trust the rest of the universe- Keith wanted to argue that he believed in Krolia and Kolivan instead of them, that was a low blow since he believed they were friends, even if they bickered all the time.

-If you trust us then you should have told us – Keith agreed with Shiro on that one, it seemed. Shiro wanted to give him privacy while Pidge was still trying to guess how the babies suddenly appeared with Lance, or at least who the mother was.

-Would you have believed in me if I suddenly called you at midnight telling you that Allura and Lotor got reborn and fell from the sky near my farm? – Krolia and Kolivan were at his side, supporting him, Krolia gave Keith a look that clearly said to stop bothering the young one. Kolivan was another support and for that Lance was grateful.

-Honestly? I probably wouldn’t have believed you right away, not until I saw the babies- that was Pidge. She wasn’t so against magic anymore but she still preferred pretty much technology and logical explanations.

-Same happened to me… I couldn’t believe it either, so I asked Krolia and Kolivan since the babies were clearly not human- Krolia then proceed to explain what had happened and how Kolivan helped examine the babies which were very healthy and very obviously were Allura and Lotor.

-Why haven’t you told Coran? – that was a question that Lance didn’t know how to answer. He wanted to keep the babies a secret only known to him and now Krolia and Kolivan, he of course knew that Coran must know about baby Allura, considering how he couldn’t say goodbye to her, but he wanted to be selfish. Another part of him didn’t want to break his heart in case the babies were not who he thought they were.

-I… didn’t know how to say it. He was the only one that couldn’t say goodbye to Allura. Imagine how much pain it would cause him if I suddenly tell him that Allura and Lotor are pretty much alive, looking to be about the same age, and as babies. I don’t want to hurt him- because even if the older altean hasn’t speak with him in almost a year, he was still a friend that he treasured.

The others understood Lance’s way of thinking, he was a person that cared deeply for other people’s feelings, probably he worried a lot about Coran since he knew the pain of losing Allura better than them. A simple phrase as “move on” and such would never be enough.

-She was a daughter to him. If she died and suddenly came back to life, then…- he didn’t continue. He knew the pain of dying, he died once but nobody seemed to care. He didn’t believe it was possible another miracle like that since the one that died was Allura.

-Still, he should know. Same as us- Shiro was hurt, he wanted to be close to them but he knew it was impossible now that he was married and wanted to have kids. Seeing Lance with babies before him, without someone to rely on, made his heart hurt. He wanted to offer his assistance.

-I know. I wanted them to be my little secret since I know many people who would die to kill Lotor as a baby. And even when Lotor was bad in the past, nobody has the right to kill an innocent child- he argued. All seemed to agree with him, their friend did indeed have a very big heart.

-I still wonder, why now? I mean, it has been a year since they died. Why now? Why not half a year ago? - Pidge wanted to know why, since it had no logic at all. Lance had the same thought, he tried to think and until then he had been fairly happy. Right now he wasn’t happy at all. He knew the symptoms of depression and knew where he was heading. In order to be better for the babies he decided to change and take care of them.

Could everything be related? He knew that magic was a tricky thing, although he couldn’t do magic, only Allura was able to do it. Even Coran being altean couldn’t do magic at all.

-Maybe there is going to be trouble soon? - Kolivan asked, he always thought of the worst case scenario and Pidge seemed to be on the same page as him.

-That is probable. That’s why I am training the new generation. We aren’t going to be young forever. We need to train younger generations. Don’t give me that look Shiro, I know you aren’t a fan of the war but it must be done. I know you are done fighting and honestly you deserve to be happy, Hunk was a great paladin but we know that now that he is married fighting isn’t going to be his priority. Keith and Lance have pretty much started a way of living. Lance working on a farm, which honestly makes no sense to me, but ok, it’s his life and Keith with Lotor’s generals, how he can work together with them is a mystery to me. So that leaves me to do it, which is fine by me since I can develop new technology while training the little guys – they looked at Pidge full of concern and worry, but they knew she was right.

-Let’s hope that isn’t the case – that definitely was Lance, and everybody seemed to agree with him. He wanted the babies to grow in a safe environment and very far away from the consequences of war.

-So, now that we know that those are Allura and Lotor, and you are their father. I am worried. Will they be safe? Can you properly take care of them? – That question hurt but he tried to understand where it was coming from. Still, she knew he took care of his siblings and nephews, he knew how to take care of someone.

-I have been able to do it for almost a month. They are perfectly healthy so yeah, I believe I can do it- he didn’t want to sound so pissed off but she had touched a very sensitive topic for him.

-We know but we still care about you and now the babies – Keith was his friend and was worried about him, he saw how thin he was and how tired he looked, he guessed the babies kept him up most of the time since they were still pretty small.

-It’s going to be fine, mullet . You worry too much – he said laughing. Everybody tried to trust Lance on that one.

-Call us if you need anything. I still think you should tell Coran- Shiro was right, but he was afraid of speaking to the older altean. They drifted apart, so painfully obvious that it hurt. Still he agreed to let the older man meet Allura and Lotor.

-Thank you, for visiting and everything. Although I should be really thankful to you. Thanks Kolivan, Krolia- he said hugging them with not a care in the world.

-No need to say thanks. That’s what family does, honey- that made Lance teary eyed. Family was not only his real family anymore, it also included his space family which were all the other Voltron members and the Blade members, he also included baby Allura and Lotor into the mix. But for him specifically a new space family opened with Kolivan and Krolia.

-Honey? – Pidge was smirking, making Lance blush while Keith looked in shock to his mom as if she had said the craziest thing in the world, she didn’t even call _him_ honey and he was her son. Maybe his ideas about them were correct?

-Yes? He is our boy. – Now Keith looked downright confused. Lance was his brother? Like technically? Because since before he believed they were like brothers but weren’t really brothers. Now, Kolivan’s proud voice made him look at Lance. He kind of understood why Kolivan was proud, Lance took care of two babies which weren’t really his responsibility, he asked when he didn’t know something and now the babies were big and healthy.

-Seems like you got another brother Keith- Pidge looking at him while attempting not to laugh was hillarous. Kolivan and Krolia knew that Keith looked at Shiro as if he really were his brother, but now with them telling him that they had somehow adopted Lance as a son was a big no for him.

-I’m fine with just Shiro as a brother- All but Keith could see the hurt in Lance’s eyes. He didn’t mean to be mean but Shiro was special. Shiro really had acted like a big brother, he had always looked up to him. That much was pretty much common knowledge.

-Keith- the warning tone in Kolivan’s voice made him look at him silently asking what had he say that made him mad, but he still couldn’t find an answer.

-It’s ok guys. No biggie- Krolia looked as if she didn’t believe him, but said no more. Kolivan looked ready to argue but stopped just by looking at Krolia.

He always knew that he was the additional member, one disposable. Never really a part of the group, and by seeing how Keith had downright refused to be his brother in all but blood truly made him sad. Was he expecting too much from Keith? Maybe he was the only one that believed that they had passed from rivals to friends and maybe even brothers, but now he knew for certain that the title of “brothers” belonged only to Shiro. Always somebody else, in this case Shiro, but never him.

-Lance…- Shiro tried to say something. He knew Lance’s insecurities since he saw them and felt them while they were in the astral space. Keith maybe hadn’t try to hurt him but he had unconsciously done it.

-No Shiro, it’s ok. Although I believe Space Dad is a better title for you- everybody facepalmed. Keith looked utterly lost as to why everybody tried to be on Lance’s side.

-Well, he could be Space Dad…You can adopt kids Shiro. It isn’t impossible since you are a war hero- a title that none of them wanted but had somehow gained. And that was part of the reason that they had done such a change in their lives.

-Adopt? – that certainly was a possibility but he wasn’t so sure about using his war hero status in order to obtain a family. Still it was a possibility that he wanted to consider.

-Yeah, like I adopted these two cuties- Lance signaled Allura and Lotor while smiling so much that they had forgotten for a moment how tense they were just a few minutes ago. Although he must admit he hadn’t adopted them legally, but at this rate nobody cared.

-Well, that certainly would work, maybe I will do it later, once I get a grip of how marriage works- he was still amazed at how easy it was living with Curtis. With Adam he had a few arguments due to his health, and he recognized now that Adam was right. But with him now dead, he couldn’t mourn.

-How is Curtis by the way? I rarely saw the guy before you married him. I still wonder why you married him- Lance had walked straight into a landmine. Keith looked sad, Shiro was debating how much to tell without exposing the reason of his distance with Voltron in the last battle.

-Well, he was working with me, I guess spending so much time with someone brings you close- All agreed with him, they were very close, like a family however nobody married one another just for that reason. Probably something happened between them that he wasn’t willing to share.

-I guess that’s true- Keith being so silent and with that sad and furious face was enough clue to Lance to know that Keith was emotionally hurt and the culprit probably was Shiro. Considering how much Keith loved Shiro, even willing to sacrifice himself along with a clone spoke too much about how deeply he cared about the older male.

So he decided to have a little private chat with Keith later, once everybody went home. Whether he wanted it or not. Probably another chat with Shiro once he knew the full story from Keith, since he was probably going to be less emotional about the whole deal.

After a few jokes, and a promise to introduce Allura and Lotor to Coran, everybody went home. The first to leave were Krolia and Kolivan, who were sad to leave his adoptive son but they still had missions with the Blade as the leaders of the organization. Then Pidge left while calling Hunk to tell him all the new information she got from this small reunion. Shiro left alone arguing that Curtis was waiting for him at their home, which caused a round of whistles from team Voltron. Keith was about to leave when Lance stopped him.

-Oh no, you won’t leave. We are going to talk- The confusion in his friend’s face was epic. He wanted to comment on it but couldn’t. This was not the time to joke about feelings.

-About? – Someone was not pleased. He knew Keith probably hated talking about emotional stuff but it was necessary.

-Feelings, that hideous monster known as feelings- Keith didn’t reply, so he guessed he was going in the right direction, so he continued. –I saw your face and you are lucky the others didn’t notice, not even Shiro. What happened? - He truly wanted to know. Curiosity killed the cat, in this case it was going to kill Lance.

-Nothing happened- Evasive as usual, he didn’t give up. If Keith wanted to play that game, Lance would follow and he would win.

-Yeah, nothing happened, right. That is why Shiro looked so terribly guilty and you terribly sad and angry. I may look like an idiot but I am not. Tell me. What happened? – Keith turned giving him the opportunity to take his hand while stopping him.

-Remember the last battle? – it was a battle that none of them could forget, it had cost a lot of lives and hurt many others. All the members of the team were at risk of losing their lives, Lance knew this better than any of them since he saw death straight into the eyes and somehow managed to stay alive. Keith, took his silence as his key to continue his story. –Well, before the battle, I confessed my feelings to Shiro. He rejected me. That was the same time as he left us for the Atlas. Shiro didn’t want me near him, that was the reason we went different ways, that was the reason he married Curtis. My confession made him go away to someone else- Lance couldn’t believe his ears.

-You like boys? – He knew Shiro was very important to him, but he didn’t know that Keith loved Shiro romantically.

-I confess what you wanted to hear and all you care about is that I like boys? – he had a right to be mad, so he exploded.

-Yeah, well that wasn’t the point and I know it but so far I haven’t seen you _like_ someone. I honestly thought you saw Shiro as a big brother, maybe even a literal Space Dad! – he defended himself. When he saw him calm down he started talking again. –Also…When did you confess? All I ever saw you doing was training. – he was literally dying of curiosity. All the paladins stuck together after losing the castle and knowing the other pilots that were now working with them in order to win the war. James and his team were a nice change of environment.

-Before we separated. That was the reason Shiro stayed at the Atlas. He said it was for the better since there was an extra paladin, so he decided to stop being Black’s pilot and left his post to me, with a very clear rejection to my confession. He argued about our ages but those didn’t matter to me- he liked Shiro and believed, honestly believed that all could be solve just by being positive.

Lance wanted to hit him.

-Let me get this straight. We were in the middle of a war and you thought it was for the best to just confess your feelings since we were all close to dying basically? – When Lance said it like that Keith understood why he had been rejected. Probably Shiro thought it was just him talking due to fear of dying without telling him his honest feelings. He never stopped to think that Keith was going to confess either way.

-Yes…? – The face he saw on his friend broke his heart. Keith really loved Shiro. And that rejection had hurt him more than he wanted to admit.

-Was it your first rejection? – he saw how popular he was at the garrison, so probably he had never been rejected. Confessed to, maybe. But he had been the one doing the rejections so far.

-Of course it was. I don’t agree to a relationship just out of pity! I’m not that cruel- Lance knew it, he always knew it. He had been rejected more times that he wanted to admit. Plus, he knew Keith wasn’t a cruel person, he actually cared deeply for everybody but was terrible at expressing his feelings, often leading to misunderstandings.

-It hurts, right? Want me to help you with the rejection? I have lots of experience in that area- Keith looked at him doubtful. In part it was true, he had been there when Lance had been rejected by nearly half a galaxy, the one he was sure it hurt the most was Allura accepting his proposal just to be thinking about Lotor all the time and die later.

-Can you? – he wasn’t sure about accepting his help, although he recognized that their sharpshooter’s experience in that area, and maybe he could help with his pain.

-Are you doubting my experience? Let me tell you I have been rejected by girls _and_ boys, so yeah, I know what I’m talking about- very subtly he looked at Keith out of the corner of his eye and saw his shocked expression. He almost burst laughing.

-By boys too? – he muttered, doubting that part but he wanted to believe him. If he had gotten truly rejected by boys too, then he must know better than anyone how he felt.

-Yeah, although in my defense I didn’t know that the alien was a boy until they started talking- a laugh from his friend made him blush, it truly was difficult to distinguish between females and males when they looked the same.

-How do you do it? – Lance seemed confused but Keith continued explaining. –Rejection hurts a lot. And in almost every planet we have visited you got rejected. How can you do it? – he seemed amazed by Lance, and he understood why. Shame, he believed a façade and not how he truly felt.

-Because I know I’m amazing. They are missing this piece of handsome Paladin- he joked, Keith looked unimpressed by him. –Also I know that someday my special someone will arrive. Maybe I was rejected for a reason. Hell, even Allura rejected me at some point. And now look, she can be happy with Lotor with a new start. Maybe she was meant to reject me but when she didn’t fate decided to play a little- he said looking at the babies, smiling as Lotor watched over Allura protecting her from the adults. He somewhat still seemed wary of him and he couldn’t help to smile since they didn’t have the best record.

-That can be. Do you think I will find someone better than Shiro then? - he asked curiously. He knew Lance adored Shiro, if he admitted he could find someone better than him then it was probably true,

-Better? You will find the best. Actually I am surprised you and Acxa aren’t a thing by now. I swear you liked her and it was mutual- the sound of laughing caught his ears.

-We are best friends. She helps me a lot with Ezor and company. She is a very strong force to be recognized, but we don’t have romantic feelings for each other- he admitted. Lance could be very creative from time to time.

-Shame, because she is pretty. – More laughs were heard, which confused Lance. He had meant it, Acxa was indeed pretty.

-Well, you aren’t wrong. She is pretty, but I like boys in case you haven’t noticed- now it was Lance’s turn to blush. It was just a small detail.

-Oh, right. Sorry man, my bad- Keith understood him, Lance was always flirty with the opposite gender, surely he had never thought about liking boys. Although a little hope was given to him once he noticed how he flirted with alien boys too. Maybe he liked both?

-No problem. I just thought it was obvious I liked only boys- which was answered by Lance with the comment that yes, he adored Shiro but that didn’t mean he liked only boys.

-Or what? You liked Hunk or I? – the red that covered most of Keith’s face was epic. –Oh gosh _, you like Hunk_. Well, that’s the best choice, he is a sweet person, shame he is married- watching Keith blush so hard was funny, especially for him.

-It _isn’t_ Hunk- the voice was so small, so little that Lance doubted he heard correctly. –Please tell me I wasn’t the only one that thought Pidge was a guy too…- when he received another negative answer he blushed, which made Keith a little bit happy to see him blush too.

-Really man? Coran? I mean he _is_ the gorgeous man but…- Keith wanted to strangle him. Was it really that hard to think _and accept_ that he liked Lance? After all the initial part suggested he liked him, but the boy just kept saying the names of all the other members of Voltron, even Pidge and she was a girl.

-You…- the angry tone made Lance rush to the other side of the room. –You are making fun of me. Why do I even bother? – the apology came very soon.

-Sorry, it’s just that usually nobody says that _they_ like _me_ \- which gave a bitter taste to both. One because he knew he was difficult to be loved and the other who considered that maybe the blue paladin wasn’t as lively as he appeared to be.

-Well they haven’t gotten to know you. Under all that pathetic flirty attempts, is a wonderful person. You exaggerate sometimes but it can get bearable. – Lance didn’t know he could blush that hard, surely his heart was working overtime.

-Thank you- after that short talk they decided to talk about the babies and how Lance had been faring. He admitted to have some difficulties, especially sleeping since the babies were still so small that required constant attention. And while he was willing to give it, his body also wanted a rest sometimes.

Keith silently wondered if Lance was doing this in order to feel better. He knew better than anyone how deeply in love he was with the altean princess and how much she hurt him when she accepted to be his girlfriend but still thought of Lotor, and how she preferred to die instead of looking for another solution. There is always another solution to things.

-If you need help maybe I can help- he appreciated the feeling but he couldn’t, this was something he wanted to do by himself.

-Thank you. Still, stay the night, it is late to go and you can rest in my room. I am going to be taking care of the babies in a few hours anyway- he proposed and the other accepted. He was drained after talking about feelings. He admitted that Lance was right. He needed it.

Quietly he went upstairs and fell deeply asleep.

Meanwhile, Lance was contacting Shiro. He knew it was late but it was necessary to help Keith. At least one of them needed to be happy and he was totally sure that Shiro liked Keith in the same way the other paladin liked his hero.

-We need to talk. Can you come tomorrow afternoon? – he guessed Keith was going to leave early, so the best moment would be in the afternoon or evening.

-Sure, did anything happen? – he knew Keith stayed, everybody knew it. Had they fight? Was he hurt? Maybe he wanted help with the babies but was scared of asking for help.

-Not much. Just wanted to talk, you know, let this friendship grow a little- and it hurt Shiro to read that, because he was certain that nobody kept in touch with Lance and for that same reason he was contacting him, telling things about maintaining a friendship and not let it die.

-Ok, sure. I can arrive at 6. Is that ok? – when he got an affirmative response he closed the phone. Curtis was reading behind him all the messages and smiled. His husband finally started interacting again with the other paladins, so he encouraged that little going out.

-You seem worried – Shiro knew it was true, he didn’t know what to expect from his old companion. Lance had changed a lot and didn’t really know what to expect or how to treat him. Curtis knew the other paladins didn’t agree one hundred percent with their marriage but he didn’t mind that, because they had a valid reason to be wary of him, after all they barely interacted before Shiro got married and he was never properly introduced to them.

Shiro appreciated Curtis. He didn’t judge him and always supported him, now he also gave nice suggestions when needed, like right now.

-Go and visit him. When was the last time you two had a normal conversation? I bet it was before the war. Lance is a good kid, talk to him. Maybe you are going to get a surprise. – Shiro wanted to believe that but he was praying for it to be just a normal talk and not because Keith and Lance had a fight as always.

-Well, they always surprise me. There was one time when Lance was almost killed by the castle…- he narrated how everything happened and how surprised he was since they were very creative after that in order to help Lance overcome his fear of the castle.

-See? But recently? Before the war ended? – the silence that followed was answer enough for him. –That is answer enough for me. Go and see him, you need it too. After all, what can go wrong? – Shiro was afraid of that answer. A lot could go wrong, after all they haven’t spoken in ages, not once had he visited Lance and now suddenly offering help with the babies felt wrong.

-I hope you are right- he silently hoped everything was fine, that Keith didn’t kill him and he didn’t send that message because he needed help. Could Lance really tell him off for everything? Probably, the guy had no filter when it came to his friends.

Morning came too soon for the red and blue paladins, they ate breakfast in silence and Keith promised to visit again soon and call him frequently. Lance loved the guy, he was considerate in his own way, he was just very bad at expressing his feelings. He noticed that talking again with his friends was a nice outlet, he felt refreshed and now he was waiting for the afternoon to talk to Shiro. His friend didn’t deserve to have been so brutally rejected.

-I hate to see you go so soon. But _the universe_ needs you. Greet Acxa and the girls, tell them I say hi- he joked with finger guns and sound effects.

-I believe not only the universe needs me- he truly believed Lance needed him too. Actually, he wouldn’t be surprise if he needed all of them.

-You said something? - he was distracted and hadn’t heard Keith. He probably was just muttering to himself.

-I said see you soon Lance. I will be visiting more often- the grin he received from Lance was all he needed to know he had made the right choice. He would be visiting sooner than he expected, even if it meant to have a serious talk with Acxa in order to be able to visit.

Lance hated farewells. He always got teary eyed, now more than never since it had been almost a year since he had last seen his fellow paladin friends. Kosmo was teleporting Keith every few minutes, which made him smile, the space wolf probably could detect his emotions.

Cleaning and looking after the babies was easy, he was getting used to it. So he made Shiro’s favorite dinner, after asking Hunk what would Shiro like and something that was easy to do too, since he was no master chef as Hunk was.

If he said he wasn’t nervous, that would be a big fat lie. He honestly was terrified, since he wanted to say so many things and didn’t know if his words would reach his leader, his hero. So when the bell finally rang, he jumped, scaring the babies along his heart.

-Coming! - he looked at Shiro. Strong, muscular, if somebody told him Shiro was still a pilot and a warrior, he would believe them. Even when his face got softer, he looked the same. He really loved his team, specially Shiro, and seeing how he hadn’t changed made his heart skip a beat. He missed his team, his space family.

-Hello – The uncertain way he greeted made Lance realize that his leader probably spent a lot of time having the same thoughts he had. His way of looking at him, as if looking for any kind of signature that gave away his internal pain, one he was so used to it that it was so easy to forget about how lonely or sad he was. It was in that moment that Lance decided that he wasn’t going to be as harsh as he had wanted when he sent Shiro his message.

-Hi Shiro. How are you? Is Curtis treating you right? Because if he isn’t, he is going to know me and not in the good way – the hand movement simulating a fight made Shiro smile. Probably this talk was long overdue.

-Hi Lance, yeah, actually Curtis is very nice, if anything I’m the bad one- he saw what his husband told him. The boy in front of him was exceptionally nice, but he looked exhausted. Shiro knew that kind of exhaustion, he was emotionally exhausted and probably didn’t even notice since he was still making jokes and trying to look out for him.

-You? Bad? I doubt it – If Shiro were Kuron then it would be a different story, but the man in front of him was a good man. Although if he suddenly confessed to be Kuron then, that would change things a little, since even Kuron wasn’t completely bad if even the black lion for a while let him in.

The other knew that was a big fat lie. After all, what kind of friend just stops talking to the other for months, a little over a year now, without a good reason? What type of person just walks out of their lives with no explanation? So yeah, he totally believed he deserved the title of worst friend ever, since and after all, it was Lance who look out for him all this time.

-I beg to disagree but, now I’m kind of curious. What do you wanted to talk about? – he detested the words “we need to talk”, because it usually came with bad news. Last time he heard those words was when Adam wanted to tell him to stay on Earth. He was honestly scared of just 4 words, which he thought was lame so he won’t admit it out loud.

-Keith – The answer was so simple and honestly he should have seen it coming since Keith stayed with Lance yesterday. The two of them obviously had something going on, he just couldn’t place what it was.

-What did he do this time? – the dad voice he was mocked for came out naturally. He knew Keith and knew how he easily let his emotions run, and probably the guy had say something that had bothered Lance, he just hoped they didn’t get into a fight with babies in the house.

-Oh, no. He didn’t do anything bad. I wanted to talk about him- he kind of guessed why Shiro thought Keith had done something, the two of them didn’t have the best of the relationships and he admitted it was because of him and the rivalry he declared all those years ago.

-…Ok? I’m all ears- he was genuinely intrigued. If this conversation wasn’t about a problem between the two of them, what on earth could Lance needed to talk to him about?

-Why did you reject him? – he didn’t expect that question, it was personal and it also told him that even when they fight a lot, Keith trusted him with the emotional part of him, even if he was a disaster.

-Because he is like my brother? I don’t like him like that. – He noticed the change in the facial expression of the other boy, somehow he knew his answer was not what he expected, just half of it.

-Still, you knew he was and still is horrible with emotions and feelings. I agree that confessing during the war wasn’t the best option, but you made a mistake too. – Shiro looked so shocked that Lance wanted to laugh, Shiro was just as bad as Keith when feelings were involved. –You left us, for good – guilt, guilt was all he saw reflected on the eyes of his leader and friend.

-I didn’t want to leave but I had to…-because he knew otherwise Keith wouldn’t have gotten a clear message. He knew that the decision hurt the members and put the universe at risk, but if he gave Keith false hope he would hate himself.

-You had to? Really Shiro? You and I know that even if Keith is shit at feelings, he would have understood, he takes his missions and responsibilities very seriously. He adopted all that mentality of “Victory or death” that the Blades have. Don’t underestimate him. Even now you have barely spoken to us. It is as if we were complete strangers to you. Hell you even married someone we didn’t know about until you told us about getting married and inviting us to the wedding- he wanted the older man to understand that his decision affected everybody, Keith emotionally since it was his first rejection, and the team because suddenly they weren’t a team anymore, spoke just the minimum and had zero interactions.

-Would he? - he doubted it, feelings clouded the mind, he knew this because Adam left a deep impression on him when he didn’t want him to go to Kerberos even when he knew he was dying and it was his last wish. He even told the superiors in order to made him stay on earth. Keith was impulsive and surely his feelings would have a similar reaction.

-Hell yeah, man. Keith is terrible at feelings but he would have respected your answer. You leaving us without a hint, suddenly stopping the conversations, it made it all the more awkward that it needed to be! And it was his first rejection too. The first rejection never leaves you. You hurt him Shiro and you need to make it better- he wanted to help but couldn’t, Keith wanted Shiro, not him, even if he saw past his flirty self.

-I messed up, right? – when Lance told him that yes, he messed up big time, he didn’t know how to act or make it better. He knew the younger boy hadn’t told him all that Keith told him, and he admired him for respecting at such extend his friend’s privacy.

-Shiro… Can you just… talk to us again? Like we used to? I know we probably annoyed you with all the dad jokes but Keith needs you and I’m fairly sure that he isn’t the only one. We all need you. – when Shiro accepted, Lance’s soul rested a little. Maybe their friends had an opportunity to make everything better.

-Ok, I will try- he saw how their sharpshooter relaxed and knew he had made the right decision. Lance told him how badly it hurt Keith to lose a brother, since they were close and to suddenly cut all communications made him think that maybe he wasn’t needed anymore, which Shiro strongly denied since Keith was like his little brother. Always needed, and he told Lance the same.

-We all know, except him. Your bond was one so strong that it _wasn’t needed_ to confirm that he was needed. We all noticed how biased you were, always praising Keith and never the rest of us. Don’t worry Keith is very oblivious and he never noticed and the others are just too nice to tell you off- but he wasn’t nice anymore, he still considered the older man his hero but now he could tell him how badly his decisions hurt the team, maybe even breaking it.

-You are very nice too. You have matured Lance. – and of course the blue paladin knew it, having babies and fighting in the war made you mature whether you liked it or not, but he wanted Shiro to note that he was mature _before_ too. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, it seemed like Shiro truly believed him to be an air head and not mature at all until recently, probably due to the babies or so it seemed to him.

-Thanks, man. Now, I believe you need to speak to the team, specially to Keith. He was truly hurt by your rash decision and you know you have to apologize- and the older male accepted since it was technically true. He knew it was since he saw how they barely won the final battle against Honerva. It was a terrible decision done at that time but now he could correct the mistake, after all Keith was a precious existence to him.

-I… don’t know how to talk to him again. I said some really hurtful things and probably the weeding was a little bit too much for him, but I honestly didn’t mean to hurt him. I just wanted to get my point across- and Lance understood it, he truly did. Being Keith’s friend meant knowing how to get his point across, sometimes he needed someone to talk, others to practically shout, few times was the emotional manipulation and only a couple of times was demonstrating with actions. Usually the blue paladin preferred to talk to him but somehow it always ended with bickering between the two of them and he guessed Shiro was a pro at being able to talk the things with Keith since he never knew of them fighting like Keith did with him.

-Ok, give me your phone- and he did without even asking why. Lance took the opportunity to scroll and look for Keith’s number, fortunately the older man didn’t erase it so he smirked, he was going to fix things because even if Keith didn’t love him as he did, he was still a precious existence to him.

_Hey, I talked to Lance and noticed that we have indeed drifted apart. Are you up to drink coffee? Let’s say tomorrow at 2 p.m.? I just want to chat and maybe even be friends again? I know I haven’t made the best decisions but I want to fix my relationships and I believe this is the first step of the way._

Shiro read the message and couldn’t even get angry at Lance for deciding the date and time, not even bothering to ask when he was free or was a good moment. The message was simple but straight to the point so even if he messed the meeting with Keith tomorrow, the younger male would know that he was just terrible with feelings but wanted to patch things.

-Thank you. – he wanted to invite Lance, but he saw how the blue paladin rejected him telling him that now he had to take care of two babies and although he would love to be with them he couldn’t. Again guilt consumed Shiro, because once again, Lance was always helping them but nobody seemed to be there for him. Maybe tomorrow when he meets Keith, the both of them could plan something to be able to be near the younger male.

-I just had to help. Keith looked so miserable, and even if he is my rival, he is also my friend so I don’t want to see him so sad. If _me_ scolding _you_ helps him, then I’m glad. – Shiro’s blush made him smile, surely things would fix themselves.

-And it did. I never knew I had hurt Keith so much- he admitted, and that was true since he never stayed after his weeding to mingle with the other paladins so he never saw how much it hurt Keith his decision. He promised Lance to be in contact after talking with Keith.

-I hope you keep your promise. I don’t want to sound like Keith’s dad giving you the talk about hurting his son! I’m not the space dad! – which made Shiro laugh and point out that he indeed became the Space Dad since Allura and Lotor were his children and he was their parent. Once the fact dawned on Lance he blushed and stuttered that he wasn’t a dad but what Shiro said was true. He was now the Space Dad! He had taken Shiro’s title!

Lance loved how perfectly normal and natural it was for them to interact like friends, like they did in the castle joking and playing. He didn’t want to admit it but he missed that, he missed his friends, his space family. It was moments like this one when he felt alone and made him remember that he chose to live here far from his family and friends, only with Coran near but the death of Allura caused the older male to distance himself in his own way of mourning, and he respected that even if it hurt him.

-Are you ok? – he was afraid of asking since Lance suddenly stopped talking and looked ready to cry. Maybe he had say something that triggered the younger male? He couldn’t find anything like that so he guessed it was something Lance had on his mind for some time.

-Yep, great, better than never now that I know that you are going to patch things up with Keith. If somebody can do it, it’s you. _Don’t. Ruin. It_. – for a moment Shiro honestly though that Lance was going to hurt him, fortunately he didn’t and he relaxed a bit.

-Thank you, I hope I can fix it – they played with the kids for a while, he saw how much Lance cared for the small ones and how they corresponded the affection. Had the blue paladin been always like that? So caring and selfless? Probably, it was just now that he noticed this. Did the other paladins truly know the man before his own eyes? His best guess was that only Keith and maybe Hunk knew him.

-You _can_ and you _will_ do it – How confident and intimidating he was being gave Shiro the idea that yes, he can do it. Thanking his friend, he decided it was time to do the same favor for him. Would it be ok? It had to be, he owed Lance a lot, everyone really since he was the pillar of the team, the heart of it.

They bid farewell after a few hours. After that the blue paladin wished to have the kind of relationship Keith and Shiro had. It was a very strong bond, they weren’t real brothers but acted like it, Shiro would worry about Keith and do whatever was in his power to help him, even getting in trouble himself. He loved that about Shiro and knew the same applied to Keith. If anyone asked him, he would answer that Keith’s love for Shiro was so big, he would even die for him.

He remembered how that almost became true while Keith fought Shiro’s clone and had to close his eyes to avoid letting tears fall. He had almost lost him.

The babies crawled to his side and he picked them up very carefully, talking to them helped him a lot more than he wanted to admit it. They seemed to understand him too, so it wasn’t very bad to have someone hear him out.

-Although probably you do it since you can’t go out on your own. – Such a painful realization hit him. He remembered when they were alive, Lotor teasing him about how nobody wanted to talk to him, and only when Lotor was confined to his cell, he talked to Lance and confessed things that now were the reason he truly believed Lotor was innocent, just misguided by Zarkon. When Allura was alive he was always his second option, never the first and that hurt like a bitch.

Probably if they were older they wouldn’t even bother listening to him at all.

-It’s probably about time too, to go see Coran- he was terribly afraid of the older man, he was sure the altean was a good person and was like an uncle to him, but this was a very big secret to keep from him and the others were right, he deserved to know.

Since they had dinner with Shiro, and Lance had bathed the babies with his help, a fact that he was going to treasure for a long time as a precious memory and anecdote to the small ones. The blue paladin finally called Coran before it got too late, after all it was near 10 p.m. when he was calling, and even Lotor and Allura were fast asleep.

-Coran, my gorgeous man? How are you? – Coran was curious as to _why_ had the paladin called him but he decided it was best to answer him. He always had a reason to do things and probably this was one of those times.

-I’m fine young one, what about you? It’s rare that you call me so late- he wanted to say that it was rare that Lance called him at all. Since Allura’s death and Voltron winning the war, he had seen very little of his favorite paladin, even if he told everybody that he had no favorites.

-Yeah, sorry about that Coran. I was talking to Shiro until a while ago. And decided to call you- the incredulous tone he got from Coran made him flinch, greatful that he was on the phone and not on video call. He decided it was best to come clean with the older man.

-Shiro? – he seemed curious about it as well. So he told him how he spoke to Keith and decided to help the two of them to be like brothers, as they were before Shiro’s wedding. Coran understood him, after the war everybody went their separate ways. Only Lance stayed on New Altea with him, still covered in bruises. He never asked why, he just accepted the fact and tried to help his young friend, however he failed miserably and by the first month he had lost all contact with the boy. For him to call him so late was very stange.

-Yeah, he gave me courage to talk to you and to say something very important. Coran, Allura and Lotor are alive. They are living with me. Do you want to see them? – the silence on the other side of the line gave him creeps. Was Coran mad at him? Probably he was furious. Would the older man believe him? Probably not. And would he come and meet the little guys? Hopefully yes.

-Are you telling the truth? – that had hurt a lot worse than when the bomb exploded on his back. Coran didn’t believe in him. Was it really a good idea as Shiro had told him? He was starting to doubt it.

-Yes? - the questioning tone was unavoidable. Coran probably noted it too since he didn’t say anything after that. It took a few minutes to get an actual response from him.

-Can I go to your place tomorrow? I need to see it to believe it- relief flooded Lance and he gratefully accepted his proposal. He was going to arrive early to see his little princess.

The call had barely lasted five minutes, but for Lance it was an eternity. He had finally done it. The babies were asleep and he wanted nothing more than tell them the news.

That night was a nightmare for Lance. He dreamt that Coran did indeed come and couldn’t recognize the princess, even if she was still the same, and couldn’t believe the blood test since it wasn’t done by him, but by a Blade doctor. He accepted that maybe Lotor did indeed look like him but he still questioned him about it. It was so awful that he had woken up a few times shaken up and just wanting to cancel everything.

Morning came too soon. He wasn’t prepared. Not yet, but the soft knock told him that Coran had arrived and was knocking so soft in case the babies were still asleep. Fortunately, the babies were up and in their best clothes.

-Hi Coran, the gorgeous man- he was carrying Allura and Lotor with one arm and the other opening the door. Coran was still looking between the babies and Lance, his shocked face made Lance’s fears disappear. His dream was nothing more than that. Just a dream.

-Princess? Allura? – with each word, the baby made motions to ask the altean to hold her, so Lance gave her to Coran. He seemed to take her as if she were made of glass, probably still unable to believe she was alive.

Her smile was gorgeous.

-I forbid you Lance to flirt with her- he smiled when he said that.

-Coran, she is just a baby. I just flirt with _older_ babies- that made Coran smile. Looking at him carefully he noticed how tired Lance looked, and was he letting his altean marks show? His favorite paladin had changed and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it since probably it wasn’t for the best. Last time he had seen him, he looked lost and now… he worried about him. He looked depressed and barely keeping his act together, probably in order to care about the babies.

-I know, but I also know how much you loved the princess and how precious she was to you. – he didn’t want to admit it but he didn’t want to lose Allura once again.

-And because she was precious to me, now I will do what I should have done before. Letting her stay with Lotor. This time Lotor will not be evil because I will guide him and make him a proper man, one I would gadly step aside if Allura chooses him- Coran looked at him as if he was Shiro speaking. He sounded mature and wise. Certainly his time alone had helped him to achieve that.

-It’s the first time you say good things about Lotor since we knew him- He knew Coran was right but couldn’t stop thinking that if properly guided, Lotor would have become a great ally instead of a great enemy. He now knew his story and felt bad about it. Lotor hadn’t been evil when he was small, he became evil when Zarkon destroyed his way of thinking.

-He isn’t evil. I don’t want the world to know about them since most people hate Lotor and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if they had the opportunity. I want to give him a chance to grow. To be the person to stay at the princess side and help her. Because… Humans live less than aliens. I won’t be able to see them become adults probably, so I want him to be her support. As a brother, a friend, a lover… as whatever he wishes to become. I would support them, because they really aren’t blood related, they have so many options- and Coran understood. When Voltron was still fighting the war, he saw how fragile their bodies were. Keith wasn’t as fragile since he was part galra, but otherwise, he wasn’t strong enough to be considered frightening or powerful.

The princess confided him that Lance had died, but there was a war going on so they decided the best course of action was to hide the fact that one of the paladins had perished since Allura was able to bring him back. Coran now fully understood the younger man way of thinking. Life for humans was very short, while alteans lived far longer.

-When we were in space with Lotor, he almost became my only friend. Nobody listened to me, I was alone, and he decided to talk to me, which I was grateful since he told me my ideas were good and how to improve them. Even if he was the enemy, he cared about me- something the team had forgotten since they gave priority to the war. Personal feelings were not an option. And he had to understood it.

-Lance…- but said boy continued talking. With each word breaking his heart a little bit more. He told him how he really felt then, how utterly alone he was, the homesickness that haunted his dreams at night and how he saw his friends being cruel to him and unable to say anything since he knew the stakes at war were high and probably they were all stressed.

-Coran, do you know what hurt the most? - the man wanted to answer that probably finding the princess kissing Lotor after a successful mission was probably the number one option, but the answer he got gave him the creeps. They had truly neglected their paladin, their friend, their family.

-It hurt to know that nobody would miss me. Nobody knew I was killed, and after all that, on that game they made me the clown, the poor Lance that couldn’t even remember faces or understand a drawing. I was mocked, ridiculed and _nobody_ batted an eyelash. I was almost cooked alive and they _joked_ about it. And now? A whole year had to pass in order for the others to remember that I existed. If it weren’t for Hunk’s wedding, then I would have never seen any of you. Pidge lost all contact, I know for a fact that she created and AI called Chip, Keith is with Lotor’s generals aiding the universe, Shiro got married to Curtis, Matt helps Katie to train the new generation of paladins. And you… we live on the same planet, we even live near but I have barely seen you. - and _that_ was the real motive he hadn’t feel confident on asking his help before, requesting Kolivan and Krolia their help instead. He couldn’t get angry with him anymore. He was at fault too. Coran was angry at himself.

-I… can’t trust the team anymore. I can’t trust anyone – and that admission made a deep cut on Coran’s heart. Because the man in front of him was right. Nobody, not even him, had bothered to visit him and ask how he was faring after Allura’s death. He never, not once, asked him why he didn’t stay on earth as he had wished all those months that they lived together in the Castle of the Lions. He never bothered to ask the other how he was doing, not even when both were hurting for the same reason and probably could have reached a solution together or at least be there for the other.

He knew he had failed the little human before his eyes. Yes, little because in altean years, he was barely an adolescent. He was just a child and had been deeply hurt by the ones near him, the war hadn’t helped his case. And now, he didn’t trust them, and he understood it. He helped them if needed, because they were important to him, yet he didn’t see how important he was for them.

-No Coran. You don’t understand. Before I could trust any of you with my life, but now I can’t. And I know that in order to keep them safe I need the help- but couldn’t ask for it, both knew it even if Lance didn’t say it out loud. His actions told him so, since Kolivan and Krolia were the first ones to help him.

-Was that the reason you didn’t ask for my medical help and instead asked Kolivan and Krolia? - when Lance gave and affirmative sound he knew how bad it was. He always thought he was close to him, now he didn’t know.

-Coran… Do you know why I keep the altean marks? - he told him the reason was Allura. How he wanted her to feel her marks as natural. Maybe if another human being had them she would feel like part of the world, however not many alteans were alive and they had lost communication, so he couldn’t ask for help.

With each declaration he got more and more worried about the paladin. He decided he would contact Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Hunk and Matt and ask for help since human mental states were different from alteans.

He asked how he came in contact with Kolivan and Krolia, the answer made him laugh.

-It was a long time ago, almost two weeks since I started living on New Altea after almost cutting my altean marks off of my face and left Earth. I called Keith but somehow he was on a mission and Krolia answered in his place, Kolivan was with her. They asked if an enemy had appeared and if I needed support since they knew the lions were gone. When I told them I just missed Keith it was Krolia who said it was obvious her son would let a friendship die if this was the first time in weeks since Keith talked to me. When I told her it had been almost a month she joked telling me that Keith surely wouldn’t be able to let alive a cactus on the dessert. And decided she and Kolivan would be in contact with me, sending updates about Keith. Kolivan was more serious about the updates, like “he ate a hamburguer” or small details like that, almost like describing a mission, while Krolia sent me pictures of Keith, I joked about how humans tend to show baby pictures to those we care about and she showed me some of Keith, since then she kept the routine even when I confessed it was joke. - both men were laughing since it seemed like something that could happen.

Coran had a lot to ask and so many questions with so little answers. Lance knew it, but he couldn’t be completely honest with the older man. He was now more reserved about his feelings and actions.

-Can I come from time to time to look after the princess? – when he got the ok from Lance, who asked if Coran could look after her when he was working on the farm, in order to not bother too much the older altean he would take Lotor with him, since he knew that Coran had deep affection for Allura but not so much for Lotor. When he accepted he smiled so much that almost blinded him.

-Thank you Coran- the older man now had a mission, a secret one. He would help Lance, and the first step was to talk to the other paladins and get the blue paladin to open to the others. So far he seemed to have a connection with Krolia and Kolivan, and while he hated to admit it, they had lost their connection.

At first, to accept they had lost their connection hurt, but he guessed his hurt was nothing compared to Lance’s. He left early and promised to visit soon. He also told him that Allura’s birthday was on May 4th while he knew that Lotor’s was on June 9th. Allura was a little older than Lotor, however Lotor was not put in cryo-sleep so he was older than her when they had first met him, even if he still looked young. He explained that they look a certain age for one thousand years at least and that thanks to the cry-sleep probably that was the reason that Lotor looked like the same age as Allura.

Thanks to being reborn now they would age at the same time, no time difference and would probably become a nice couple. He had different emotions, he was happy for her, she deserved to be loved and to have what in her past life she couldn’t get: love. On the other hand, he was destroyed, devastated since he wasn’t going to be part of that life. Fate and Life had literally given him a nice slap on the face with this turn of events.

Coran stayed a few more hours, while helping the princess communicate with her mice. The little one was marveled with how easy it was to understand non-human beings. With Coran’s guidance she managed to grow trees and plants. Lotor wanted to do the same, but couldn’t so he preferred to stay with Lance, the only other human being he knew that couldn’t magically grow plants. With Coran’s help he now knew that his theory was correct. They were small but understood what was being said, and probably had memories of the past.

-Want to play with Kaltelnecker? – He made Lotor ride the cow, he was teaching him how to be a nice human being. It was hard since Lotor was half Galra but he knew another half galra that could help him. He started asking Krolia for tips, which she provided without question, asking him how everything went with Keith.

-Hi Krolia! He is probably getting his big brother back. Shiro is probably talking to him right about now, those two had a very big misunderstanding so they are in the process of making up. You got me, I sent Keith that text, Shiro didn’t know what to say, so I helped a little…- so it seemed that Keith talked to Krolia about meeting Shiro and thus, it was probably the same reason as to why Krolia didn’t ask about how or when they were making up. Judging by her conversation, Keith suspected the one that sent the message wasn’t Shiro at all, and was thinking it was him, which was correct.

-Me? I’m taking care of Lotor. Coran is taking care of the princess… I swear Coran needs more time with her. He didn’t manage to say goodbye last time and I had been keeping her a secret…- he wasn’t ashamed of the babies but he knew not many people will be ok with them, maybe with Allura yes, but not Lotor so he wanted them to bond with other people, and the only ones he was willing to try were the paladins, since they weren’t truly evil, just a little misguided.

Krolia didn’t like what she was hearing, Coran had an obvious preference for the princess and Lance was letting it slide since he felt guilty about hiding the fact that the prince and princess were alive and it wasn’t fair. She wanted to comment on that but held herself back. The guy looked ready to pass out, probably from not sleeping the day prior due to nerves about how to tell Coran about his secret.

At that same moment Shiro met with Keith. He was nervous about talking to the younger paladin, they were the best of friends before the wedding and he had to admit that Keith had been utterly destroyed when he knew about the wedding, but it was the only way he found to made clear he had no romantic feelings for the younger one. He knew that he had messed up when at the final battle they almost lost and all due to them not being able to communicate like normal.

Keith was aware about how difficult this was being to Shiro so he spared him the pain by talking first, after all he had promised Lance to be nice to him.

-Hi Shiro, how are you? – small talk was always the best when they didn’t know what to say, however the answer Shiro gave him was not the one he had been expecting. He had expected to be turn down, to let Shiro tell him that he was here only to tell him to go away. For Shiro to confess how he truly felt, was startling to say the least.

-Alive. Fine. I don’t know, worried too I guess. I truly don’t know where we stand and what to expect. – a feeling that Keith was very familiar with, more so when he was feeling exactly the same as him.

-Worried? Why? I am not going to hit you, even if you do deserve it for being an ass and cutting all communications- he was joking of course but Shiro didn’t seem to get it. Not until Keith had to literally say that he was joking, he wasn’t seriously going to hit him.

-Oh, I’m not worried about you. I know that if I explain to you, you will understand or at least try to. I am worried about Lance, actually- and he first explained to him why he had cut all communications the way he had, how utterly lost he felt since due to the feelings Keith had for him, a mission or the whole battle could be at risk of failing and his only solution almost cost them the war.

-I understand. I don’t agree with your method but I now know why you did it the way you did. Are you happy? Is Curtis being good to you? – Shiro chuckled, Keith was being overprotective and that made him smile. He answered that yes, Curtis was being the best, that he had encouraged him to talk to the other paladins, and so he did, at Hunk’s wedding, that was part of the reason that day he had spoken to Keith at all. He was sad and maybe disappointed when he noticed how far apart he had grown from Keith and the others.

-Curtis was the first to motivate me to go see Lance and talk to him. Lance… well, basically told me off for how I had been acting recently. He is the reason I actually came to see you, he sent the message since I had no idea how to talk to you. I still feel ashamed to let my feelings get the better of me and I have no idea how to make it up to you guys. My feelings could have gotten us to lose the war, I was being irrational. – seeing Keith only smilling, not saying anything was creeping him out.

-So, you and Lance…? – to see Shiro blush was epic, he had spoken with Hunk and knew a little bit of what Shiro’s taste in men was and he was having fun. He knew Shiro understood what he was implying and couldn’t help laughing more and more.

-Not like that, Keith!! Lance is just a friend! – he couldn’t stop blushing, and knowing what Lance had said about him having a clear type made him wonder just how much attention he was receiving from the young man, since he did in fact, have a type and yes, that included Lance.

-You don’t deny him being your type- the singing tone on his voice didn’t go unnoticed. Keith was curious as to what had Lance exactly say to make Shiro talk to him, even to open up to the blue paladin. Or maybe he did open up to Lance since he was told off by him and had very valid points.

-Well, he _is_ my type. However, I do want to know why he doesn’t include himself in the type of guys I like. It can’t be that hard to believe I can like guys like him. You know, lively and able to tell one off if they are making a mistake. - Keith knew that better that anyone, Shiro liked very direct people, him included, to include Lance was a surprise because he never considered the blue paladin to be direct. In his eyes, Lance was a very reserved person even if he was very open with the others. He was also very mature and made a very good right hand man, it was thanks to him that he took the role of the black paladin even if he initially didn’t want it.

-So, he literally became the space dad in your place- he started saying jokingly. –Still, it is a surprise he actually fits your criteria to choose men. However, we need to return to the topic at hand: Apologies. I believe I also owe you an apology for confessing so suddenly my feelings. It was my feelings what put the universe at risk. So, I’m sorry- Shiro corresponded the feeling, since he knew it was part his fault too since he didn’t know how to deal with his feelings and caused the team to fall apart.

After a brief exchange of apologies and wishes to return to the original team, Keith noted that his mentor, his friend looked very serious. Like the kind of serious you get once you received bad news, so he decided to get to the bottom of things.

-After the apologies were accepted, tell me what seriously is going on. – the answer that he got made his blood cold. He knew he saw something too but was reluctant to accept that maybe a friend needed help, but Shiro had already lost someone dear to him and knew that they shouldn’t ignore how the other felt.

-Lance. Yesterday when I spoke to him I noticed that he somehow made time for us, he is always there if we need him, but I couldn’t help notice that we aren’t there for him. You know, like friends are supposed to be. The best example would be Hunk’s wedding, tell me, from all the paladins who spoke at least an hour with him? That’s right, none of us. He wasn’t even Hunk’s best man even when they are supposed to be best friends, that must have hurt him. And now with the babies, I noticed how he preferred your mom’s help than directly ask Coran, even when Coran knew the princess since day 1. He is close yet so far away – and Keith agreed. He had also noticed how his right hand man changed and feared it wasn’t for the best. He looked too thin, sickly, and now with babies he was sure to reach a breaking point soon if he didn’t take care of himself soon.

A sigh escaped his lips.

-I know, I noticed too. I actually wanted to speak with everybody about that. I believe we have hurt him more than he lets on. – meeting no resistance he continued talking. –We have to help him, since he is right. If word spreads about him having babies and _who_ those babies are, then he would be in more trouble that it is worth it. – Even if he was sure that Lance would readily save the babies with his life.

-That’s a nice plan, actually. Think you can get hold of Pidge? I will try Coran and Hunk. Maybe we should include Veronica and Matt. – when Keith accepted he felt a little bit better.

-I just hope nothing happens to him while we try to bond again with him. – the younger one would never admit it but since the last battle, he was able to connect with everybody except Lance. His connection with the paladin seemed non-existent for some reason and he was going to find out why.


	2. BROKEN BONDS

As it was a tradition at the school, Lance offered to give talks about the lions and how the universe was saved and needed the help of everyone on the universe to keep it that way. Small children were sitting around him paying attention to every word and trying to give the best in order to be acknowledged by him. He would never say it out loud but that made his heart melt.

-You knew her? Like, personally? - a boy no older than 7 years old asked while pointing to Allura’s statue looking at Lance as if looking to find a lie. –And all of the other paladins too? – how he wanted to answer that yes, _because he had been also a paladin_ , although trough story he was never mentioned since history only recognized Allura as their savior with the help of the paladins whose names were never written, all in order to protect their privacy. Only a few, like the children on New Altea, knew the names thanks to Coran and Lance’s teachings.

-Yep, I knew her and all of the paladins- or so he thought, but after the war he wasn’t so sure anymore. –At least I thought I did. Once. A long time ago- he muttered hoping the child haven’t heard him and break his illusion of the all mighty paladins that saved the universe. Fortunately, the heavens heard his plea and the little boy didn’t hear anything.

-What were they like? – He remembered _Garfle Warfle Snick_ and how Keith said he didn’t want to spend an eternity with him, how he was always referred to as the loser, the dumb one, the good for nothing. Some crumpled copy of a smile crossed his face, he wouldn’t let a kid see a sad face.

-They were the future. They were going to change the world and they did. – at least the ones the child was probably referring to, since all of his friends did great things, all except one: him.

-How? The world looks the same to me... – many children nodded and agreed with him. Lance was expecting that reaction so he said what little he knew.

-Ketih, the leader of Voltron is helping other planets to look like this one. Many planets were very hurt, so they need plants, food and help in general. He is giving that help to them. Pidge, the green paladin, is creating machines to make life easier, and even training the new generation of paladins should the need arise, since and I quote her _“no child deserves to go to the war completely unprepared as us”_. Hunk, the yellow paladin, is an intergalactic chef and is using that to bring peace. War can be caused due to hunger, so he is helping in that aspect. And Coran, the gorgeous man that is always on this planet for anyone that needs him, he is helping by educating you. He is one of the few original alteans that is alive and can pass on traditions that would otherwise be lost. Allura, she was special. She died to let others live. So selfless and pure. – the boy stared at the statue, Lance was surprised with himself since he didn’t break down crying while thinking of Allura, and he guessed it was because now he literally has her as baby, and could now protect her. He could talk about her while smiling.

The boy nodded in understanding.

-And the blue paladin? – ah, that was him. Makes sense he didn’t ask about Shiro, since he was never mentioned to be the black paladin before Keith. What could he say about himself? Nothing could compare to what the others did. He wasn’t as great as the boy thought. He didn’t want to disappoint him either.

-He was the sharpshooter. Up until this point nobody knows who he is and what he does. Since a sharpshooter has to watch the backs of the team while concealing his presence then my guess would be that he is near the team, taking care of them. – that sounded logical, and he kind of did that now that he thinks about it since he was meddling with Shiro and Keith in order for them to make up.

-So… he is like an undercover agent? – that sounded better than what he had said, so he said that yes, kind of an undercover agent.

-Something like that- all the children were happy and he excused himself saying that for a year, probably a few more years, he was going to be gone due to business. That business wasn’t the farm as they thought, it was due to the babies. He needs to teach them to speak, walk, and work as normal human beings.

-You are going to be gone? – the kids couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Their favorite teacher in New Altea was going to be gone. They loved Coran, but Lance was like a father to them. He cared in a different way. Coran made sure they knew the traditions, basic knowledge and occasionally the emotional care. Lance on the other hand, gave priority to the emotions, how they felt and always told them how important they were. Both were loved, but the children felt safer with him and always sought him out.

-Yes, only for a small time, a couple of years at most. Also, I need to work on the farm…There is so much to do and so little time- he joked while enjoying the time he had with the kids. The little ones hugged him like there was no tomorrow, crying and being sad that their favorite teacher would be gone soon.

-Don’t cry, beautiful girls look better smiling- he said to a small girl that was crying a lot. He knew her because she was the last child to arrive at the school and had a hard time getting to know the others. Fortunately, one of the older boys looked after her, like an older brother would. Both kind of reminded him of Pidge and Matt.

Talking about them, he wondered how they were doing. Krolia’s last update was vague, it said that Pidge had been meeting with the rest of Team Voltron, with all except him. And that stung a little since he had looked after her like an older brother. He could only guess why Pidge didn’t confide in him anymore.

_It's because you are noisy, always bothering her while she is working. You think you are funny but in reality you aren’t, you are a pest. That’s probably why nobody has visited you or even tried to talk to you after Allura’s death, not even Hunk and you **know** he is a sweetheart. He probably only invited you to the wedding in order to be polite, he didn’t even ask you to be his best man._

He knew the team cared for him, but it was in moments like this when his mind started being painfully honest, that he highly doubted it. After all, when you care about someone you _try_ to be there for them, and his team had only gathered once after Allura’s death and the farewell of the lions. That time being Hunk’s wedding, a party nobody seemed to talk to him, Hunk barely greeting him even.

Now, with them meeting without him, he felt left out, as an outsider. He probably really was the seventh wheel and they were nice enough not to say anything to him so as to not hurt him, without knowing that contrary to what they believed he wasn’t a complete idiot and knew that they were probably talking about him behind his back.

Self-worth was something he always struggled with, because he knew he was important even if sometimes he highly doubted it. As he mentioned to the little guy, a sharpshooter had the back of the team, even now when it was painfully obvious that Keith and Shiro wanted to be friends again but were having difficulties with it. As if they expected their relationship to be the same even without doing anything, something he knew was not possible because both were very hurt.

_I always got the back of my team, made sure of it, but now who has my back? Team Voltron? Yeah, right, nope, they barely know me anymore. Allura? Right now is a baby that depends on me, so another no. Krolia and Kolivan? Probably, they had helped and were even willing to move the Blade just to help me in case there were enemies near. Plus, my real family is on Earth, far away from me._

-Teacher Lance you look sad- the crying girl had long ago stopped and now looked at him as if he were hurt and crying without tears. He wanted to smile, but felt the little girl didn’t deserve to be lied to, he knew that pain.

-I was just thinking how much I will miss you, all of you- the complete class tackled him in a group hug, he appreciated the gesture. Kids were really honest and noble. He truly didn’t deserve their love. The kids asked him to call from time to time and he promised to do just that. Fortunately, he didn’t tell them about Allura and Lotor so he was safe on that side.

It was during the group hug that Coran arrived and saw that with curious eyes. The children explained the older altean that it was Lance’s last day before disappearing for a few years. That particular piece of information gathered his attention.

Once again Lance had withheld information from him, and this particular piece of information was very important. When and where was he going? Was he going alone? With the children? For how long was he going to be gone? Was this another way of being apart from Princess Allura? Just how hurt was his favorite paladin in order to just leave without saying something to him? He had thought that Lance and him had an agreement about the princess and a certain understanding of feelings.

-Are you leaving? – he already knew the answer. It was just a way to ask for confirmation. When the blue paladin nodded he felt sadness creeping, the young paladin no longer trusted them. His actions told him so, before Lance would talk to him or listen to his stories, however now he barely spoke with him or any other member of team Voltron now that he thought about it. He felt hurt and betrayed but, he could still understand where was he coming from.

-Sorry Coran. I just need it. – he knew his actions were a mistake. Allura needed to know about her magic and how to use it, but he felt bad for Lotor. The small one saw the difference between them and was getting envious of her, if he wanted them to have a healthy relationship then he needed to eradicate that kind of negative feeling. In order to do that, he needed Coran to be away from the princess, he was giving her all of his attention but never giving a second glance to Lotor.

-I… understand, my boy. Can we keep in touch? – a peaceful offer, however he got a negative answer. It seemed the young boy needed his space, and it meant to truly lost contact with everybody.

-Sorry, this is something I need to do alone- the older male respected his decision, however as soon as Lance went out of the little school and went back to his house, Coran contacted Team Voltron.

Being called by Coran, to go to a little park next to the school he worked for, was no surprise. Sometimes he just called to say that it had rained or a small human fact that he found interesting. His video calls were always short and happy. The team loved the older male as a part of the space family they had created. Instead of listening to fun facts, the one thing they all dreaded was becoming true.

-Lance is leaving. He is taking the babies with him. – He proceeded to tell what the little kids managed to get out of the paladin. It seemed he told the kids he was going to be working on the farm, growing plants and food for Keith to send to other planets. Seeing how there was no such plan to begin with, they got worried he was going to leave and no possible way of contacting him.

-But why? – that was really the question that was making them worried. Had Lance got enough of not getting attention so he decided to go somewhere else? Was he really looking for a way to help other planets and found a way? Was he going to be ok with the babies all alone? Keith knew that probably he would keep in touch with Kolivan and Krolia, they had gotten closer in the last couple of months after all.

-Well, we haven’t been the best of friends to him, not even you Coran, no offense. He literally had to depend on your mother Keith, he is far away from Earth and you all know how he missed Earth. Honestly, after Allura’s death I’m surprised it took him this long to pack his things and go- everyone wanted Pidge to be wrong but nobody said anything because they knew it was true, and all felt guilty for leaving a friend in need, giving priority to continue with their lives and helping others, instead of helping one of their own.

Unknown to them, Lance was coming back to school with the babies so Coran could at least say goodbye to the princess. Contrary to what everybody believed he wasn’t cruel enough to leave without giving the older male an opportunity to say goodbye. However, instead of getting that farewell he had heard Pidge, at least the last part she told the team.

_Honestly, after Allura’s death I’m surprised it took him this long to pack his things and go._

So, they had really expected him to just go. They never truly expected anything from him. The silence from everyone just confirmed his theory.

_Maybe I should just video call Coran before going._

But after all this, he didn’t want to see anyone, he didn’t feel comfortable enough to video call Coran. So he hid in the shadows and went home before someone, namely Keith, noticed him. He knew Keith somehow could spot him if he got careless. He now had to plan how to go to another allied planet and install himself.

-Ok, so, enough of us getting depressed. We need to talk to Lance – everybody agreed with Shiro. They were worried and getting depressed for not noticing how badly he was doing. Coran now had a clear idea of what to ask. He knew it wasn’t the perfect timing but he needed to know just how badly was Lance hurt so they could help him.

-Before we do anything rash, I need to ask about human’s mental health. Since your body is fragile, I’m guessing mental health as well should be weaker. I need to know just how badly was he hurt so we can help him better. Last time I spoke with him he said some really worrying things but I don’t know how serious or bad it could be for humans if for alteans was bad enough- he didn’t want to worry the team, but they had to be prepared to undo a lot of damage, and honestly time wasn’t on their side.

-Well, mental health is difficult to deal with. Hunk for example has anxiety, which makes him puke whenever it gets too much, or to start cooking and baking if it is on a moderate level. Shiro has PTSD, which probably gives him nightmares considering how little he sleeps and those terrible eye bags. Keith has anger issues as well as abandonment so he has very few friends and it is hard for him to interact with others. I for one, have OCD, which is why I always carry my laptop with me. My ritual is to check everything is fine. However, in Lance case… he might have depression with anxiety. Coran, mental health for humans can be deadly. A person with depression can self-harm themselves – it was a probability nobody wanted to admit but knowing Lance it was probably the reason he stayed on New Altea instead of on Earth.

-Oh- with the worried expression the older altean had, they knew Lance was in a bad place mentally. Coran was very good with health care, even if it was mental, he just needed a basic understanding of how human bodies worked to do a correct diagnostic for them. They were fearing what he was going to say.

-You know something- it wasn’t an accusation, but Keith had been demanding an explanation with that simple sentence. Everybody seemed to share his feelings, so Coran explained what little he knew.

-Yes, I do. He talked to me about how alone he was, how he felt since none of us contacted him. He used to cover his altean marks, so I asked about them when he stopped the use of make up to cover them, he implied he tried to cut them off. He felt as if we don’t care about him, of course I assured him that wasn’t the case, we just had to do something different to distance ourselves from the war, but now I don’t believe it was enough- now that he knew that self-harm was a very dangerous step and that Lance had crossed it he felt he did very little, choosing to spend time with the princess instead of Lance and baby Lotor.

-Why didn’t you say h-how bad it was? – Hunk was getting more and more worried now, he knew Lance had gone to his wedding, but they spoke for only a few minutes, and then nothing. Self-harm was dangerous, if he had gotten to that stage, it meant Lance was definitely doing not ok.

-Probably because he didn’t know. I haven’t seen any other alien cultures to have self-harm issues, so I’m guessing self-harm is unknown to alteans, as well as all our other mental health issues. Probably they only known PSTD since it is a result of war- Pidge’s explanation made sense, they knew they couldn’t possibly blame the older man, he seemed to be blaming himself enough for every single one of them.

-Then, we need to find him- Shiro called Curtis to request back up from James and his team. Keith was calling the Blade, he was thankful it was Kolivan who answered. Hunk called Shay to explain the situation and Pidge was asking Matt and the rebels to help find Lance.

Coran had nobody to call, except maybe Lance but he got no answer.

Even without the lions, a large team was united under the Atlas, Curtis was the one in charge but he let Shiro guide them since he had more experience talking with Kolivan and Matt. Keith could see why Shiro married Curtis, he held respect for him but also a nice way of interacting with others, that was probably why Lance told him he must respect the man’s decision of not being a couple with him. He was always the one who was right about the emotional part of people.

-Care to tell me, why _my son_ disappeared? – the leader of the Blade asked the altean next to Shiro. As far as he knew Coran was like an uncle to Lance, so to suddenly go missing like this without a warning was worrisome for him. The young paladin always looked for a way to talk with others, but clearly this time it didn’t go as planned.

-He might have mental issues…Not that I am calling him crazy or something like it! But talking with the other paladins I came to the conclusion that emotionally speaking Lance is in a very bad place, and is able to hurt himself and others – he quickly said while moving his hands in front of his face, in a negative gesture. He didn’t want to admit it but it was a probability, that was why there was an urgency to find him.

-So, let me get this straight. You lived in the same planet, almost as neighbors, _for a year_ , and never bothered to see how he was doing. _No one_ of you did. – it wasn’t a question, he was stating what he knew, and honestly he was getting pissed.

Krolia was the one that interrupted him. Keith still didn’t know how she did it, always fearless and strong. She made a nice couple with Kolivan and he knew both cared deeply for his friend. For them to have symbolically adopted Lance was proof enough.

-I admit I have no excuse- admitted the older male, grief in his eyes. He truly regretted how he had been treating the younger paladin. A quick scan to the room and Kolivan could see the regret written in all the faces, even in Keith’s. He never felt more disappointed.

-I was hoping Voltron would not leave one of their own behind since _that_ was _your_ policy as a team, I see I was gravely mistaken and you were all talk- the truth hit them hard. Kolivan was right. Each member of the team was reflecting on their actions.

He was like a brother to them, and what had they done? Distance themselves from him, never speaking with him, never bothering to ask how he was doing after Allura’s death, never visiting. Do they really have what it takes to search for him and the babies? They had been horrible, and knowing Lance he would forgive them. But probably he would never forget their actions.

Hunk was thinking and felt ashamed, since he knew how much Lance loved weddings and parties in general. To not have chosen him as his best man surely had to hurt. Same as his comments about having babies and a big family.

Keith noticed how strange Lance had been and was meaning to talk to him, but he opted to make up first with Shiro, and he did, thanks to Lance. He was being a horrible friend and he knew it. Shiro seemed to be thinking the same. Both had somewhat managed to save their relationship thanks to him but both hadn’t even bothered to look at their friend and his needs.

Pidge had to thank him for finding Matt, for believing that she would find him even when she doubted it. It was thanks to his incessant motivation that she found not only her brother, but also her father. She owed a lot to Lance. Matt seemed to be on the same page as Pidge.

Coran was thinking about how distant his almost son had become, and he admits he didn’t do anything to break that wall. It wasn’t only Lance’s fault, it was his fault too, so he knew Kolivan was right, even if Krolia tried to stop him from saying anything more.

-Right now he needs us, and as family, friends and even acquaintances, we should unite and find him- all agreed and even Curtis requested more help, which Iverson gladly proportioned since the Earth owed him at least that much. If he saw the paladin on Earth, the blade would be contacted immediately.

Exactly at the same time Lance was on his way to a remote planet, one they could breathe with no problems without a spacesuit and could help him teach the alteans how to use their powers.

He had discovered his power merely by accident. He was in a spaceship he got as a mean to travel after the war given by the allies of New Altea who heard about the disappearance of the lions and wanted him to have a way to go home, when suddenly a wormhole opened in front of him. He never told anybody about this fact, scared as to why it had to be him to open a portal, which until now it was only Allura who could do it with the help of the teludav. To do it without one was just creepy.

And it was thanks to this little fact that he was able to go from Earth to New Altea in a very short time, curiously nobody questioned how did he manage to go on a trip that usually takes a year in the lions, to do it in a week at most in a spaceship that was nowhere near the level of the lions.

-Don’t ask me, I don’t even know how I did it. – the babies were looking at him with big curious eyes. In a way he did know, but wasn’t sure how to teach them that. Allura was probably a natural, Lotor probably won’t be a natural since he was half galra. And him? He was only human. There was no logical explanation, as there wasn’t a logical explanation as to how he first managed to pilot the blue lion and go through a portal.

-Sometimes I want to ask you what you truly think of me. Or thought. – he remembered how everybody was talking behind his back, and it hurt. Had the princess been the same? Probably, since Coran shared her mentality about the paladins and expectations. Maybe the same couldn’t be said about Lotor since he thought so little of living beings when they met for the first time.

He had decided to raise the babies alone. And he was going to do it, even if it killed him. So the first months were dedicated to grow plants and catching food. Making the planet green again, oblivious of the effort the others put in looking for him, how worried they were getting after a few months of not finding him or the babies.

-This is impossible, even with the newest spaceship he should be around this area, to go beyond it is impossible, only the lions could do it and honestly we haven’t heard of the lions in almost two years. It’s near impossible for Lance to connect again with Blue or Red. Also, the needs a teludav to create a wormhole, which is impossible since there aren’t teludavs in New Altea- Pidge explanation made sense, and everybody knew it. Was it possible that Lance encountered trouble during his expedition and was kidnapped? With his luck, it was a possibility.

-I know, and the Atlas needs Allura to create a wormhole too. My best guess would be that the few galra that are roaming free spotted him and kidnapped him- which created another problem. He was with babies, in order to protect Allura and Lotor they were certain that Lance would put his life at risk just to guaranty the safety of the small ones.

-If only we had a way to contact him…- everybody agreed with Hunk, however it was near impossible if the guy was kidnapped or somehow managed to go to a faraway system. Which created another conflict: How did he do it?

-The lions! - when nobody answered, Shiro explained. –Pidge knows how to get to them. We could go, find them and ask the Blue and Red lion to search for Lance. They _are_ connected after all- the idea wasn’t bad and it was the only viable way to get in touch with him, so the decision was easy to make.

The trip to the first lion was done easily, it was the red lion, that was on a volcano planet near New Altea, which made it seem as a guardian to the planet. All were silently happy that the fastest lion was the first to be found. Keith tried to connect with her, but the lion was silent, almost as if she didn’t want to speak with them.

-Are you mad, Red? – Keith wanted an explanation. Red was usually quiet, just like him. After Lance became his pilot, the lion tried to communicate more each time they saw each other. For the lion to be this silent meant Red was mad. But why? For not visiting? For not trying to connect with her even telepathically? He was busy taking care of survivors! He literally had no time to himself.

_Keith._

The name that sounded inside his head was undoubtedly Red. She was trying to communicate with him! So she probably wanted to speak to him, so he requested silence and the team obliged. While he tried to connect with his lion, the others were trying to do the same to see if the lions could come closer even when they were in no immediate danger.

_You left._

Yes, he knew that, but he was sure that if he told that to the lion, Red was going to seriously harm him. Red didn’t like bossy people. So instead he chooses to say sorry. Sorry for leaving, for not trying to see how she was doing.

_Why?_

A simple question with a not so simple answer. Why did he leave again? What would be a good enough answer to tell Red? The last meal team Voltron had together with the lions was nice. Why did he go? Couldn’t they continue like that? Probably not. Everybody left and it was very rare to talk to each other again.

_Only Lance continued talking to me. Everybody else was silent. But after a few months ago he went silent too. He was sad, hurt and I couldn’t help him. The most I could do was just being near New Altea, his new home, to protect him if needed. He was as alone as I was._

_And it hurt._

And that little piece of information made Keith’s heart break. Lance had been hurting _for months_ , but never bothering to speak with them. He kind of understood too. Red was right, nobody tried to speak and be there for the other paladins, so why should Lance try to contact them just to talk? He could see the logic behind his actions. Because contrary to what people believed, Lance was very intelligent when it came to emotions, thing in which the rest of the team honestly suck, specially him.

_Humans are interesting creatures. He felt sad and alone and yet he didn’t want to contact you. He always said he never wanted to bother others. He told me his reason for returning to New Altea and while I did not agree with him I wanted to be there for him. He needed someone, unfortunately I wasn’t it._

_How could you do that? How could you leave him behind? From all the members of Team Voltron I believed you would come back and be there for him, but I was gravely mistaken._

With every word his old lion said, he felt as if he were being punched in the gut. Red was right, the team fell apart once Shiro decided to get married. Nobody wanted to side with only one of them so the team decided to do things they wanted and liked. And as such everyone was getting better at something, with little to no communication at all with each other.

He knew that was a lie, since Pidge and Hunk continued talking, Hunk sadly lost communication with Lance and very rarely he talked with Coran. Shiro and him had such a fight that only recently with Lance’s help he managed to restore his brotherly relationship.

The team owed a lot to Lance, and all had failed him.

_I screwed up._

His lion seemed to agree with him, since Red told him how not only him, but also the others failed his paladin. And it hurt Keith to know that to the fastest lion, he was not his paladin anymore. Now that position was Lance’s.

_Yes, you and your team screwed up. It probably wasn’t meant to go this far, you all had something you wanted to do, and you did. But now you are correcting your mistake. Please help my paladin and my dear friend._

Keith agreed.

He was going to help Lance even if the other boy didn’t want his help. He had seen how tired he was and how much energy the babies got from him. He was also fairly certain that Lance was keeping a secret.

_Can you help us get the other lions? My friends and I need all the help we can get to help Lance._

And Red helped them getting their lions. Somehow all the lions felt the need to help Lance and their pilots, the regret and guilt from abandoning his friend. All the lions knew something and deliberately didn’t tell their pilots. If they truly wanted to help the blue paladin, they needed to discover it by themselves, no help this time.

At the same time Krolia was trying to contact Lance, however he never answered. So probably either he was very far away from where she was being or he intentionally turned off the communication channel they had. If it was the second option, then she would be terribly sad.

The Blade had made it its mission to find the missing paladin and to establish a communication channel with the rest of team Voltron or with Kolivan directly once they find the missing paladin. They were losing hope as the months passed, there were no reports of a human living in the nearest system and they totally had no clue on where to find him.

They wanted to guess where he would go, however all they could relate Lance was with jokes, with playful banter and friendship talks, even with flirt attempts. What did he like? They knew he was from Cuba, so maybe the boy would look for a place with a beach. Or probably not in order to make it difficult to find him.

The days turned weeks, which turned months and now, it was almost a year since the ex-paladin went on his solo mission of raising the kids. Coran was worried since the princess could use magic, knowledge only a few selected alteans had, him being one of the few selected, and Lance had no knowledge on how to use said magic.

Since the babies arrived, Lance guessed they were around 18 months. Now at almost two years, he was there when the babies said their first words, he almost had an emotional breakdown when Allura called him “papa” and Lotor “Lance”. It was almost as if the babies had been trying to guess who or what he was.

He understood Allura, he was a male, so naturally he called himself papa, however, it seemed that Lotor was missing a vital part, he still didn’t know how to relate to others. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the best in that department since even his best friend hadn’t talked to him in years. Probably if it were a girl problem, then the problem would be solved, but he wasn’t ready for a relationship yet.

Not when he saw Allura and still liked to think that he was an important part of her life.

That he mattered to her.

-Was there a moment that you truly loved me? – he wondered out loud since in the few months they were together she never said that she loved him, not even with her actions. And now that he realized that, it hurt to think he was a rebound from Lotor.

To be jealous of a baby was kind of pathetic but he couldn’t’ help it. Lotor was something he wasn’t. He was smart as Pidge, strong as Shiro, fast as Keith, he showed he could care about people the same way Hunk did, he was just missing a little something. And now he could probably get it since Lancey Lance was going to raise him to be the best man Allura could wish for.

-You better take care of her- he made the little boy promise to him that he would be there for her. Always, no excuses.

Admitting she never loved him hurt. Made him wonder why is he raising Lotor and Allura, and realized it was because she had been really happy with Lotor and he wanted to be able to protect that happiness. While doing so, he never wondered the efforts the other paladins were making in order to find them, since he truly believed that Voltron was not going to look for him.

Word that the blue paladin was missing became a big notice, some even whispering about him having babies. The whole universe was wondering who the lucky girl had been the one to get the blue paladin. But as soon as the notice of the babies got out, many nasty rumors did too. From Lance killing his wife and hiding his babies, to disappearing from the world. The few galras that wanted revenge believed the rumor of the babies, and had managed to discover that the babies were Allura and Lotor thanks to a human that verified their identities.

Raising kids that could do magic was no easy task. Allura had managed a few times to make him trip, making Lotor laugh. The connection the two had since the beginning was just undeniable. And that made Lance wonder the place he had with her. Was he just a friend? A lover? An acquaintance? Was he just now a fatherly figure?

Staying hidden was relatively easy with Kaltelnecker. The cow made it possible to have food for them and making another farm was just a piece of cake after that. He wasn’t as bright as Pidge when creating things but he had managed to get a mini radio that catches signals nearby as well as a modified riffle.

This riffle would move the bullet in a way that instead of hitting the target in front of him, it would hit him instead. His creation was planned in the case there was an attack and his only solution would be to commit suicide without the enemy knowing. He wanted to take care of all the possible outcomes.

From his improvised radio he heard about rumors of people looking for him, and the thing that worried him the most, is that people seemed to know about the babies. He knew nobody knew about them, except Team Voltron, because he didn’t tell the students about his newly acquired responsibility.

Betrayal.

He felt utterly betrayed.

He had trusted his team, or maybe they weren’t his team anymore. Doubt was creeping on him like a sickness. If what he heard was right, then somebody rattled him out. Kolivan would never do it, he was very honorable in a way that he found it extreme, same as Krolia. Other than the few selected members of the Blade such as Sven, no one knew the truth, only Team Voltron, and he was certain that if Sven had rattled him out then Kolivan would have killed him and then contacted him to let him know about the situation.

But who? Who had broken his trust? He trusted all of them with his life. And now that trust was destroyed. Nobody came to his mind as he thought who could possibly sell that precious information, they had all been part of his space family. He truly wanted to cry since he hadn’t expected to be backstabbed by his own space family.

For now, his priority was the safety of the children, not even his own. It seemed like a few rebel Galra that still believed in Zarkon were out for blood, his blood specifically, as well as Lotor’s blood, and maybe Allura’s too. It was in moments like this when he thanked the stars that he had paid attention to Pidge and his classes at the Garrison, since he could develop a few traps for the enemies and a safe house under the house they were living right now.

The children were curious at this stage and started talking using a few words like their names, “papa”, “hungry”, “sad”, “cow”, “happy” and “sleepy”. They could walk, and were touching everything. Allura and Lotor liked to watch him train hand to hand combat, even mimicking him with big smiles. Seeing them play like that and having so much fun he knew they were really Allura and Lotor since their movements were very precise even for their small bodies.

Lotor had been growing into a nice being, always protecting Allura, taking his duty to protect the princess very seriously. Lance was grateful for it, he knew Lotor couldn’t be all that bad, and probably it was what Allura needed, not him mopping about broken relationships and how alone he felt.

Traveling with small children was always difficult, he knew it firsthand. When his family wanted to travel with his nephews, who were practically the same age as Allura and Lotor, he remembered the pain in the ass that was traveling by car or plane. How many sleepless nights he spent suffering from lack of sleep? He was grateful that the babies right now were very peaceful and let him sleep at least 4 hours straight.

He thought about moving from place to place, but getting recognized would be a problem so he decided against it. So instead, he created a fort and decided to teach the babies proper training once they were at least 5 years old. If he couldn’t be there to protect them then, he would teach them how to take care of themselves.

Doing everything alone made him miss his family, both from Earth and Space. By now Veronica would probably have taught the kids funny stories while teaching them self-defense as she did with him when he was little. His mother would probably prepare food for an entire army. Krolia and Kolivan would teach the kids all about honor and how to give a good fight. Pidge would teach them too much knowledge that would be helpful later. Hunk would help them learn how to cook. Shiro and Keith would be awesome teachers of hand to hand combat as well as how to fly. He could only teach them how to shoot.

His only real ability and he _hated_ it.

An ability meant to kill, to destroy, something he never wanted to do again. It was because of this that he became a farmer, something very far away from being a killer. This was his way to repent and ask for forgiveness even if none was given.

He wasn’t particularly happy about his way of thinking. He wanted the kids to be happy and enjoy a normal childhood, specially Lotor, but with everything that was happening around him that seemed like it would be impossible, still he would give his best to make it happen.

Even faking his own happiness.

He was no fool. He couldn’t just wait to be ambushed by the galra, he had to act and do it fast. As a real sharpshooter does, to kill the enemy before they are even aware of the peril they are in. He was going to act, and fast. He tried to think like his friends would have done.

The first step was to teach them how to fight. He wasn’t as great in hand to hand combat as Ketih or Shiro but he wanted to believe he was at least a decent fighter. Also he had to teach them basic abilities as speaking, running, writing and how to treat well other living beings.

He taught them about how to be generous to others, showing how with Kaltelnecker, occasionally he would do the same with Kosmo who frequently checked on him and on his request he didn’t tell Keith or the others where they were, unless there were an attack the space wolf would tell the others.

While teaching the kids about fighting he discovered how good they were, specially Lotor with any kind of weapon, quite ironically he was excellent using a lance, while Allura was very good with a bow and arrows, which reminded him of the altean game where she used a bow. He had to admit he was terrible with the bows and arrows, he did fairly good with the lance, but Lotor was better.

_Even kids could use weapons better than him._

How pathetic he could get?

By this point he was sure they would grow to be the awesome people he knew. They were barely two years old and knew how to say a few words, move not as slowly as a normal baby, and could comprehend the dire situation since they more often than not, had caught him talking with Kosmo, trying to assure him that he was fine.

But he was anything but fine. Stress keep piling up, he had little to no rest because even when he knew he had installed a few warning systems to alert him of anything coming to them, he still monitored from time to time the lines. He was sure that it wasn’t healthy to be so on guard.

The kids tried to help, but were powerless since it was Lance who didn’t transmit anything. Lotor wanted to tell him he was the only one with memories. Honerva had granted him that wish, maybe a childish wish for some, but for him, to have Allura without memories in order to bond again with her, was what he really wanted and her mother had sacrificed herself just to grant him that.

_In my past life, I couldn’t be a really good mother. I was corrupted by quintessence and ruined your childhood. I want to be selfish just this once. Let me grant you a wish._

And so, he had asked for a future next to Allura, to create a future where no war was going on and to create an alliance with the alteans. Surely if others saw that an altean and a galra could get married, live together, then there was hope for them.

His mother had done it, since he hadn’t specified about both of them being adults, then he got reincarnated next to the princess. When he saw the blue paladin he wanted to hit himself. If he was so big then he was just a baby, even Allura was a baby.

In the past he had hated the blue paladin because he didn’t trust so easily, contrary to what one would think as he was always friendly with everybody. Seeing how he decided to adopt them and taking such good care of them he decided to give him the benefit of doubt.

And with such, he saw how a few weeks turned to months, which turned into years. And now, they were almost six years. Allura wasn’t as observant as him, she still had that air of innocence around her and he loved it. She didn’t consider him as a brother, but a friend. And he wanted to change that, since he had truly loved her.

He was going to become a better man for her. If being a better man meant to help Lance, then he would do it. He would now protect the princess, because he had seen the older boy stress about an impeding danger. He had even seen him have emotional breakdowns when he thought nobody was watching him.

But he always watched.

At the young age of six he had seen the older man skip meals to feed them, since at the beginning the farm wasn’t as active as it was now, he had seen him watching his altean marks. Now, he was sure the boy was 100% human, his altean marks caused curiosity in him until he heard the tale from the older boy when he had touched them and looked at him with curiosity.

Allura could be cruel at times.

And it was because of it that he loved her. She could be strong, cruel if needed. She was powerful in a way he wasn’t. But under Lance’s guidance he saw how the girl was still strong, but also more emotionally connected to everything, slowly becoming more human. And it was a nice surprise to see that he wasn’t so opposed to it. Even he could see why she was becoming more human.

For Lance family was everything.

Allura was crying because she had nightmares? Then the boy would do anything to make her smile. If one of them was feeling sick, then he would do anything to make it better, even giving treats such as cake at late hours. Lotor could not understand how Lance could be so selfless, in his eyes the other boy had no survival instinct.

Under his care he came to understand the other boy. He was sure he took care of them because he truly wanted to give them a second opportunity at life. As normal living beings. He knew for a fact that he conversed with Kosmo about his life, his problems and probably did it in order to keep his sanity.

With just a glance he knew.

The boy had broken his bonds with his teammates.

His bonds were simulated.

The bonds were broken, the only bonds he had created were with them. Allura adored him and he respected him. And if what he had heard was right, a face to face fight with the remaining galra, was impossible for the human. He would need help.

He needed to mend the broken bonds.

But he knew the older male would not want to do it since he didn’t know who had betrayed them. He always wondered how six years had passed with not a single galra finding them. They weren’t that slow or stupid. His best guess would be that the space wolf had something to do with it, since Lance always sleep so few hours keeping watch.

Allura just thought the older male was tired, but he knew that exhaustion. He had lived with it after planets were destroyed because of him. Because he couldn’t protect his planets from his father, even if he had the peaceful way to create quintessence.

Sighing, he decided to help him.

-Lance- he never called him papa, that was Allura’s way of greeting him, one that he was sure hurt the male, reminding him that his love was impossible.

-Yes, Lotor? – And Lance, never called him son, he presented him as such before Kosmo, but face to face he never called him that. He always wondered if it was because the other male was not an enemy nor an ally. He felt that the only time he trusted the older guy was when he tried to court Allura.

-Why can’t you just let someone care about you? I have seen the way the wolf looks out for you, bringing food sometimes. Is it really that hard to believe in your team? In Voltron? – that was a sore spot. He had no bayard now. He was no longer a paladin of Voltron. He was just Lance, a boy trying to act as a father figure for both, probably failing miserably.

-Y-You…remember? – his worst fears showed up on his face. The boy could see how sweaty the older male had become, his breathing fast and irregular, and his voice shaking as did his hands. He wanted to tell him that it was ok, but reality was different.

-I never forgot, paladin. I am Lotor, prince of the galra. Their ruler even if they don’t want to admit it. – he could see the way Lance was thinking. But he also saw him smile, a hopeful smile.

-Does Allura remember too? – that whisper broke his heart. He could lie or he could tell the truth breaking his heart. Considering the circumstances, he owed a lot to him, lying wasn’t even an option now.

-No. She…do you want me to explain everything since the beginning? – he saw a nod, an anxious face showing him that he could wait. –Do you remember my mother? Honerva? She was going to be brought to life too but she wanted to give me a second chance at this whole family thing. Sadly, she had to give up her opportunity at life in order to grant me a wish. I wished to be born again in the same timeline as Allura. I did truly love her and wanted a new opportunity. Honerva made it possible with her and Zarkon’s last bit of quintessence. Allura does not remember, but I do. And I have been wanting to thank you for letting us have a second chance, sadly I couldn’t do it before, not knowing how to speak as a baby. – Lance had been silent this whole time, feelings were not his strong point but he wanted to believe he could read the older boy as a book, but right now he couldn’t do it.

In reality, Lance’s heart had broken. He had hoped Allura remembered him, but she didn’t. All the love she had showed him were because she truly believed him to be her father. Lotor knew that look, he was devastated. The older male had been looking after them thinking they both remembered him, but the truth was harsh.

-So… only you remember. – the silent confirmation from his adopted son and past love rival was all he needed to break down crying. He thanked the stars that Allura had forgotten everything. She didn’t really need to remember him dying once, having her giving him the marks and dying in the process of saving the whole universe. –Thank you – at least he could rest in peace knowing he was doing a good job.

-Thank you? For what? I haven’t done anything. – Lance smiled so brightly that Lotor was sure he had seen the faint traces of sadness in his eyes.

-Yes, you could have keep the information a secret, yet you told me about it. I thank you because I can now move on from Allura knowing you are going to take good care of her- the little boy knew it was true since he had heard him talking about it with the wolf.

-You shouldn’t thank me. You are probably hurting and this new piece of information is probably not helping. However, I will protect the princess, even as a child I have been proficient using weapons so you can trust me. – and Lance did, he truly believed in him.

-That’s true. Want me to tell you why I haven’t contacted my team? Or Kolivan? – the small one nodded and he continued his tale. -Someone betrayed my trust about your existence. Everybody knows Allura and you are alive. Some want to hurt me by killing you. Others just want you dead, however I believe you deserve a second chance. You truly weren’t evil. Even as an adult you kept me company. Giving you a chance is all I can do- Lotor was truly happy Lance had adopted them, he really took care of both.

-They have broken your trust. – as did Zarkon once when he wanted to just be praised by him. He clearly understood the feeling the older male was experiencing. There must be a reason as to why his trust was broken. The problem was by who? Kolivan seemed like a very nice guy even saying Lance was his son, he had no motivation to do so, neither team Voltron did. This was weird.

-Yes, and until I find the culprit, I won’t trust anyone. Maybe Kosmo and that is because he had been helping us. - a nod from Lotor was all he needed, he still had the mind of his older self, so planning with him would be easier. They would be fine.

Allura choose that moment to wake up and ask for Lance to carry her, maybe even sing her a lullaby, which the older male agreed. He now knew the girl was going to be innocent, without her royal title a lot of pressure was off of her shoulders. He would love to say the same about Lotor, but he had paid a big price to be with Allura, to remember a past that was best forgotten.

-Time for you to sleep too, Lotor. We need to make plans early- he muttered once he knew Allura was asleep, at which Lotor nodded. The man was a creature of habit. Not once had he slept in and was very responsible.

As soon as both were asleep, he knew he had to do something. He only trusted a few people with his life, so he waited for Kosmo since he had a message to get to Krolia.

_Mom,_

_Sorry for the short message, somebody rattled me out and now the galra are out for blood. Lotor remembers the past, Allura doesn’t._

_I’m sending this note in case something happens to me. I asked Kosmo to visit frequently, if there is an emergency, I asked him to teleport Lotor and Allura to you. I trust you to keep them safe._

_Say hi to papa and Keith from me. Also, tell him I’m sorry for taking Kosmo so many hours every day, I’m sure mullet boy misses his wolf._

_Love,_

_Lancey Lance._

That was the simplest letter he could manage. It was concrete and explained everything without giving much information in case somebody else read the letter.

Watching the stars, he prayed everyone was safe, while praying he saw a ship land or in his words, crash.

He went to investigate, he would protect the children even if he had to die. What he saw was Sven badly hurt on his head which was bleeding profusely and how the ship looked like it was attacked.

He carefully hid the ship and took the older male home. It seemed like everyone was looking for him after all these months. He felt appreciated but was skeptical. This was too good to be truth.

Plus, he still wondered why the male looked like a clone of Shiro. He knew there was a clone before, even hundreds. Was Sven one of those that managed to escape? Maybe he was the one to rattle him out? Judging by his wounds, he couldn’t be entirely sure.

He prayed that he was mistaken, but now he was aware of how everything seemed too good to be true. After confirming he was Sven he cured his injuries.

Lotor had watched everything. He was sure the older male was hiding something since he knew him years ago and he was a very approachable person even with his enemies, right now he seemed like an older soldier with PTSD.

Since his previous life he had always liked to gain information in order to attack. He had seen the paladin before and he slept differently, now he slept more guarded, his sleep schedule was completely messed up, if he got a full 5 hours of sleep it was a lot. Appetite was another troubling topic, since he barely eats something, at first he guessed it was because getting food was hard and he had wanted them to grow up without having to suffer hunger, but later he discovered he was wrong.

After analyzing his behavior, he determined that Lance was indeed depressed. As a child he could do little to nothing. Allura couldn’t help either since she didn’t remember them, she could try by being nice and lovable but he was sure that Lance needed first to talk to other people. Allura and him were his only companions and two children were not a lot of help, even if now Lance knew he remembered the past and could now somehow communicate with him, much to Allura’s fury since she couldn’t still speak as fluently as Lotor, which was normal since she doesn’t remember the past.

Sven.

Maybe he could manipulate him in order to get Lance to speak with another human. He remembered it was Sven who looked after them when they first crashed on New Altea, so by now Sven was probably one of the few people that knew about them and who Lance probably trusted. He had to use that to his advantage.

Finally, Lotor went to sleep while Lance took care of Sven all night. Lotor couldn’t understand how Lance went from trusting everyone to not trusting anybody in such a short time. It just wasn’t in his nature to be like that.

On the other hand, Lance was watching Sven and was sure that the man was attacked, by who or why were still a mystery to him. He wanted to help others, but he was unable to trust them. Seeing a face so similar to Shiro, made him want to trust him, still he couldn’t.

He spent all night awake thinking of Kuron, Shiro’s clone that had lived with them and nobody noticed nothing. Made him think that the same could happen to Sven, to the members of the Blade and even his own friends. All while he was unable to distinguish between friend and foe. Ally or enemy? He remembered Shiro asking for help just to understand his message very late. He didn’t want the same to happen once more.

After Sven woke up he interrogated him.

-What happened? - a small innocent question but he could get a lot of information from there.

-Rebels. Galra enemies asked me about the children, I didn’t tell them anything and so, they attacked. I escaped to the nearest planet, got hit and somehow lost consciousness. I was waiting to wake up with enemies around me attacking and demanding information, seeing you is a nice change- and Lance wanted to believe it was the truth.

-Are the galra near? – that was one tricky question, according to his story then yes, they should be near. At least near enough to pose a treat.

-Maybe? Last time they were a day far away from here, I don’t know if they moved since last time- that made sense, he had been unconscious.

Sven didn’t want to say how before losing consciousness he remembered bits and pieces of facts he shouldn’t know. He guessed they were memories that were returning after hitting so hard his head. In his memories he was a clone. He had feelings and the ability to move his mind from body to body, but only between the rest of the clones, never to another body different from the original. This one, was his fifth body. He had managed to enter the Blades and gain their trust. In the past he had been loyal to Haggar, to the witch. Now, he felt lost. The witch was no more, his goals and motivation to live were no more. He had learnt different abilities just in case. And now, seeing the paladin before his eyes he wanted to help him even if the few rebel galra considered him an ally to gain information.

-Quiznak- a silent mutter from Lance was what brought Sven’s attention to the younger male. Seeing him so small and tired, he wanted to help. He knew the galra and after almost 6 years of looking for clues about Allura and Lotor’s whereabouts they now had a clear lead. An attack was almost imminent, and both adult males knew it, judging by how serious Lotor looked he guessed even the small one had noticed.

-Ok, ok, we need to calm down and think- he couldn’t calm down and much less think, but he needed to do it to save the kids. Even when he knew Lotor remembered he couldn’t and wouldn’t put him through so much. Lotor wouldn’t kill even if it killed him.

-We can hide underground, I know you have a base, covering the house with plants could trick their sensors and visual confirmation can throw them out of balance. Maybe even we could use the space wolf, although I don’t know how many of us he can transport…- Lance was amazed by how calm Lotor could make plans, rational and sensitive ones, without murdering someone, probably it was due to his influence, or so he liked to think.

-Kosmo might need to do two trips to get us to a safe place. One for you two little ones and one for the adult ones. I prefer not to risk all four of us to travel at the same time, a travel with so many people and so far out on the galaxy hasn’t been tested yet- and Lotor understood. And adult and a child’s body could not compare, the distance the wolf could carry them couldn’t be the same, the energy to transport them to another place was surely going to change due to the difference in body shapes and weight and probably other factors.

Sven was watching everything without saying anything. Little Allura was offering milk and helping him sit down while the other two were planning how to escape in such a short notice. Somehow it seemed Lotor was aware of the consequences of hiding and had prepared a cape with plants to cover the whole house. Considering his small body, it had taken him ages, probably even with Allura’s help he ended just in time.

Sven could see Lance thinking what to do, unsure of letting the little ones go alone with the wolf. He understood his way of thinking, the kids were small and in a difficult position to get themselves out of trouble by their own means. They probably weren’t very fast yet and seemed like they haven’t seen or touched weapons.

A sad look crossed Lance’s face.

Sven knew that look, he had decided something.

He sent a note with the wolf, nobody knew what was written but he seemed sad, suffering. It was as if what he had written had killed him.

-Lotor, you have to protect Allura. I wished never to give this to you, not now, not ever. Please be safe, I will act as a bait but you need to go very far away. I asked Krolia to look out for you, you will be in good hands. - Lotor saw the gun before even saying anything. He knew this decision was killing the older male. He wanted to assure him that everything will be fine, but he doubted it.

-Bait? You are going fishing without us? - Allura didn’t understand and it was painfully obvious to the adults and even Lotor, who wanted to see how the older male was going to answer Allura. Hopefully she hadn’t seen the gun that Lance planned to give Lotor once Allura was distracted.

-Yeah. I mean, maybe I will catch a big one- the undertone that phrase Lance said didn’t go unnoticed by Lotor and Sven.

-Can I go with you? - Lotor knew the older male couldn’t say no to the girl he loved. Parting ways at this point was probably hurting him more than he let on.

-Sorry princess, this is a job only I can do. Besides, you need to keep Lotor company once you arrive with granny Krolia while promising me to be good kids – and Allura understood it, promising him to be the best kids in all the universe.

-You already are, princess. You already are. Both of you- that surprised Lotor, he never got those words from either parent he had in his past life. To get them from a former paladin who was willing to sacrifice himself spoke volumes to him since he wasn’t even blood related to the guy. After all, why was a complete stranger going to sacrifice his life to protect them? Humans lives were very short to being with, why shorten it? Why risk dying early?

-Don’t look like that Lotor, you are a good person. Never doubt that- he kneeled down and told him something in such a soft voice that Lotor was on the verge of crying. He had never thought about how his actions affected others. Now he knew just how important actions and words were thanks to a simple human.

_You are a good person Lotor. When the castle still existed, when we wanted to accept you, you were the only one that even when I was doubtful of you, you talked to me, you paid attention to a paladin nobody cared for, not even Allura and the rest. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much it really means to me to have somebody in those dark times, even if in that moment we were really enemies._

And he knew the dark times. He had seen how nobody took him seriously, tears from one paladin would cause the others to comfort the person, but in the young male it wasn’t the case, he was seen as a nuisance, sometimes even with simple gestures as not paying attention to their companion.

Allura was distracted by Sven just for a few seconds, seconds in which Lance gave Lotor a gun, easy and ready to use with just enough ammunition to kill a whole army if needed.

-I truly hope you don’t have to use it- and Lotor believed in him. His eyes were shining as if about to cry and he was about to cry with him. He was crying for him, acting as a bait almost meant to be ready to die, and for him to not want him to use a weapon such as a gun when he had already killed more than the ex-paladin spoke volumes about just how much he cared.

-Thank you, Lance papa- and the last word was enough to make him cry and hug them. It was the first time Lotor had called him papa, Allura always did, but for Lotor to do it meant Lance had finally won him over.

Allura and Lotor went with the space wolf once everything was ready. Sven and Lance talking a few minutes before the wolf came back.

-I can’t help but think you are a terrible person- and the blue paladin knew it, so not even a protest came out of his lips.

-For giving a gun to a child? Or for all the killing I did to save the universe? Maybe even both? – Sven was speechless. Was the boy in front of him really a killer? The sinister laugh that escaped the lips of the young one gave him the creeps.

-You know? All the paladins are killers, except not every one of them is aware of the fact. The lions created explosions which killed enemies. Just a few did hand to hand combat such as Keith and Shiro, still they tended to incapacitate the enemy just to finish them off with the lions, never a direct kill. Can you guess who was the only one able to see the suffering faces of the enemy? Who was the only one so scared for his life that didn’t hesitate to kill another living being? I can give you a little hint, that person is in front of you- and Sven knew that was true. The face he saw was one plagued by nightmares, a face of a soldier ready to die in order to create a better place even if it costed him his sanity.

The older male wanted to ask if he was fine, but the young lad obviously wasn’t fine. He had altean marks even when he swore he was 100% human, he was raising the girl he loved and his love rival for them to be together even if his heart broke a little each day, he had no friends near, he lived practically alone for a year until the babies arrived. How had he survived all this time was a mystery to him. In his place he would have committed suicide a long time ago.

It seemed the former paladin was thinking the same as Sven and smiled.

-People just think war heroes are great without thinking the difficulties we may come across. You physically remind me of Shiro, it is almost as if you were…- he was about to continue talking but a bunch of bullets entered the house and hit him just as Kosmo appeared to take them to safety.

Krolia, Kolivan and the kids were expecting Lance and Sven to appear, until Kosmo let out a little whine. Sven never got to hear the rest since he knew Lance would keep quiet near the children.

-I’m glad you are safe- he hugged the kids and took back the gun from Krolia’s hand, who was looking at him as if to ask him questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

-Thank you for protecting them- he wasn-t expecting to get a punch at his solar plexus, which made fall over the floor in pain and tears in his eyes. What was Keith-s problem anyway?

-Next time I don’t care how you do it, you come with us- Allura was taking Lotor’s side and that hurt since memories from before came back. Allura always taking Lotor’s side until it was evident he was the bad guy.

-It was safer to do it like this- he tried to reason with the kids but they weren’t going to take no for an answer. It was in that moment that he saw Keith and Keith saw him.

-Hi- the tackle was completely unexpected which made them fall on the floor. Sven looked curiously to the young paladins.

-Don’t you even dare to do the same again. Do you have any idea of how much we searched for you? Coran was ready to cry, we haven’t stopped and I just have been with Krolia and Kolivan for a year searching for you, since the best bet was Kosmo. That small letter gave us hope and you almost shattered it in an instant…- and he would have continue talking if he hadn’t seen Sven. He had gotten his bayard back, so he activated the bayard ready to destroy that fake Shiro.

-Stop, stop, stop. Not in front of the kids- he hissed, and both adults kept a relatively innocent face just for the sake of the children.

-Who is he? – Krolia had tried to explain but Keith didn’t believe a word of Sven being completely innocent. It was too much of a coincidence for the attack to happen a day after they found Sven.

-Sven, my doctor, as well as the kids doctor- Lotor keep looking at Lance, while trying to tell the others that he was hurt without causing a commotion, which at this point it was almost impossible to miss. Lance was looking at him pleading him to not say a thing.

Lotor keep looking the exchange between the males and decided to intervene.

-Apologize for hitting him- the former red paladin looked perplexed. Had the little brat just _ordered_ him to _apologize_ to Lance? Apologize to Lance of all people? Lance was the one at fault since he left without a word, no explanation, no nothing. And now he was the bad guy? Even Allura seemed to think so, since she sided with Lotor.

-Why? He left us, with no explanation. He just took his things and disappeared from us- and Lotor understood, Allura didn’t understand completely but was following her instincts. So far Lotor didn’t ask the adults to do something without a good reason.

-Because you hit a hurt person. You didn’t even notice he is bleeding since a few minutes ago. Hitting him can cause him to bled out you quiznacking moron. – Krolia raised an eyebrow at his choice of words but didn’t intervene, just looking for any sign of blood on his adopted son, and soon she found a very minimal spot of blood. Lotor probably saw the injury since the kids were smaller and were hugged near his wound.

-Quiznack. Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt? – Keith was trying to help his friend, but he was unsuccessful.

-You didn’t ask. Beside, this isn’t the worst injury I have gotten. – Keith agreed that fighting in an intergalactic war was bound to bring some nasty injuries, like when the bomb exploded and Lance had almost died.

-I’m sure a fucking bomb seems like nothing compared to this injury, but you still should have told us you were hurt – at that statement Lance let a humorless laugh.

\- Why should I? I mean, in the past I died and nobody cared, same with the bomb. I was put in a cryopod and nobody waited for me to come out, preferring to know if ticks and seconds were the same, oh but if it was any other member then everybody was right beside the cryopod waiting for the person to come out- the silence was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

- _You died_? – Keith couldn’t believe his ears. Had Lance truly died? When? Why did nobody notice it? I mean, sure, they quarreled a lot but still a death could be noticeable, and more importantly, permanent. Lance was alive, if he had died why or how was he alive? His questions must have been across his face because a small laugh escaped his friend’s mouth.

-While fighting Lotor. He shot Blue, so I used Red to protect her, as a result I died. Allura barely got me back, I was lucky she was near and could bring me back to life. – His friend, his second in command had died and he hadn’t noticed it. Nobody did since Allura never mentioned anything of the sort. Lotor felt guilty about that, maybe at that time he had truly wanted to kill all the paladins to complete his plan, but after being in Lance’s care he now knew differently.

-I did? – and Lance was panicking. He hadn’t meant for Allura to hear that. Or even Lotor to hear about that time. He had wanted them to forget about the past, but this was a past that somehow always came back to bite him in the ass.

-Er… that is a question better left for later dear- seeing Lotor’s face he knew both were going to have a very serious talk.

-I believe he needs medical care right now- Sven interrupted them, carefully tending the young paladin’s wound. Here, they didn’t have cryopods so he used the medical care he knew from earth even if it was considered as rudimentary.

-Thanks- and he let himself be taken care of by Sven while Krolia took Keith outside, Kolivan entered to take the kids to a more suitable room.

-Don’t worry, it seemed like you needed a way to get out of that conversation- and he did, so he thanked Sven for his intervention.

-Actually, I did need it. That is a past that I wanted to forget, but somehow it always comes back to me- in the form of physical pain, or memories. After the big war they won, he still couldn’t sleep the same as before everything started.

-Was it that bad? Not even your fellow paladin was aware of your death. I thought death was somewhat important to the paladins- and it had been, at least in Shiro’s case, everybody tried to help him return to how everything was before the whole clone fiasco. If it weren’t because Keith confessed his feelings, then maybe Shiro wouldn’t have suffered so much, same as the team.

His death?

_It was forgotten._

_It wasn’t important._

_He wasn’t important._

-Let’s just say that from the members all had their thing, you know? Hunk and Pidge as genius engineers, Keith in piloting, Shiro in combat, Allura as a diplomat and Coran as a doctor. Me? I’m the goofball, the seventh wheel. I had to be the one to call myself a sharpshooter since _my_ team didn’t believe in me. Heck, _I_ didn’t even believe the first time I managed a very good shoot.

-You don’t believe yourself to be important- a simple observation that brought tears to the former paladin’s eyes, because yes, he didn’t believe himself to be important.

-Am I important? – the silence that greeted him was enough answer. –See, you can’t even answer truthfully. All know that I am not important. I’m not a genius, I’m no doctor, I don’t contribute as the others. I make everyone worry. – he truly believed he wasn’t important and no matter who or how many times it was said to him, the answer would be the same.

-But you are important. Your friends…- he didn’t even finish his statement when a humorless laugh caught his attention, giving him the creeps since it sounded so hollow, so death inside.

-Friends? Those are simulated bonds. A true friend doesn’t hurt you, a true friend doesn’t disappear without telling, a true friend makes time for you, and a true friend would mourn your death, if you are hurt, said friend would help you recover. Are the paladins really my friends? – Sven had to look away since he knew that what it was being said was true. A true friend was something he considered precious, and he thought the paladins thought of Lance in that way.

-For me my bonds with them died a little every time they hurt me. Because they hurt me in the worst way possible. They hurt me emotionally. You have no idea how depressed I felt and how utterly alone I thought I was when we participated on that quiznaking show. Everybody making fun of me, starting with Bob, but then the team following his lead and making hurtful comments…they weren’t helping. Do you have any idea how destroyed I felt after Allura died? Nobody mourned _with_ me, all went to do the things they were awesome for while I just couldn’t help but hate myself for not being able to carry on, to continue as maybe she wishes I had done. This marks? I tried to even cut them with a quiznaking knife- and the result had been obviously a failure. As a result, he had escaped to New Altea in hopes to not worry his family.

-And I am supposed to believe they care? Really? Are you fucking kidding me? Because I can’t. I can’t believe their words when before they had told me otherwise. Their actions telling me the contrary of what I want to believe. Because I want to believe but I can’t. I can’t and it hurts because they _are_ my family. They are important to me even if I am not important to them- Sven wanted to cry. The boy in front of him was pure in a way that shouldn’t be possible after the war. He still believed in people, he believed in hope, he had just lost faith in the people near him.

-But they were looking for you, Keith seemed ready to kill me if I got a little bit closer to you- that probably meant something to him, but not for Lance.

-Keith always has that face. He truly is a softy even if his face screams murder. And they were _probably_ looking for Allura. _Nobody_ cared about Lotor _nor_ myself. People _hate_ Lotor for the past deeds he did, and while I agree that what he did was unforgivable, I also know that a child should be consider innocent until he proves the contrary. And so far, he has been an _exceptional_ child. As for me, people tend to overlook me. They consider me not important. - the older male wanted him to understand how _everybody_ cared, how _serious_ his accusations were with no proof, even if he didn’t have proof of the contrary. He had seen Keith and he was truly ready to murder him on the spot. He seemed to truly believe he was the reason the galra had attacked his friend.

Although he could comprehend why he thought that way. Krolia had been the only one to ask about both babies and not only Allura. His friend hadn’t even bothered to ask why Lance had felt the need to go without telling someone, he made it seem it was his fault that the universe was looking for him instead of doing something else.

But he had also seen the other part, a worried friend who was ready to murder him if he touched his friend. Why Keith tried to kill him was a mystery to him, one he wasn’t very keen to discover, he had done nothing wrong.

-They do care- was all he said before leaving the younger one alone with his thoughts. Thoughts of how everybody must be mad he disappeared for years, probably even thinking he liked to run from his problems.

Once alone he broke down in a quiet cry. No sound escaped his body, just tears and a very painful sensation in his chest.

_Am I really that important?_

He wanted to believe that yes, he was. But every time he tried to convince himself with that, he couldn’t believe that. He truly believed his bonds weren’t that deep or true.

Keith on the other hand, was ready to murder someone, namely Shiro’s lookalike. He tried to be emphatic with his friend, but he couldn’t. Sure, they fight a lot but for the younger male to run from everyone was strange. He was no coward.

He saw how Lance believed in Sven and felt angrier than ever. It was Krolia who opted to move the children. Until that point in time he hadn’t tried to think why he left. He had helped him and Shiro to be friends, almost brothers again. Just for what? So he could leave in peace? To hide from his problems?

He needed answers.

And it was Krokia who decided to intervene to give the answers he needed.

-You should hear this- and took him to a control room. Inside they could see the cameras and audios if selected. Lotor and Allura were still with her, she wanted them to hear this too. Even if the princess didn’t remember she wanted her to learn from watching so she could never hurt her son again.

Keith didn’t like the idea at first but curiosity was killing him, and so he watched.

He heard every bit and looked ashamed of himself. The team would feel ashamed too if they heard what he had. Even Lotor seemed to be thinking very hard about the situation.

-He died? - Lotor had the decency of looking guilty. He had been the one to kill him, even if he was now reborn the memories were still with him. He was glad Allura had truly forgotten everything.

-Yes. As far as I know from what I have heard him talk with your wolf, he died and nobody noticed since Allura didn’t say anything. You know, saving the whole universe was more important than a friend’s life. While I was your prisoner he also talked to me about his feelings, feelings I discarded since I believed all of you were my enemies. – and that hurt more. Keith tried to recall all the times Lance had been there for him, even telling him his honest feelings, and how many times he had tossed it all aside.

-Fake bonds? – he wanted now an explanation, and Lotor would gladly give it. He now talked without restrain in front of Allura. She needed to know what her past self did, in order to avoid the same mistake.

-Every time you or the paladins told Lance how dumb he was, how he was a good for nothing, or even not recognizing his merits, he would come to me to my cell. I listened, even if I didn’t offer a solution, which I could have, but by that point in time I was planning how to escape. All of you called Lance names, I admit that maybe on Earth to call your friends “dumb” or “stupid” might be the norm, however in any other planet that would be an insult to the friendship both parties have- and Keith agreed. He was no social butterfly but even he knew how words can hurt more than physical wounds.

-Was it…? – he didn’t finish when Lotor answered.

-Every day. His ideas were rejected, he was constantly called dumb, specially from the green paladin, he was constantly ignored by the yellow paladin, constantly reprimanded by the black paladin, and every day he felt inferior to your abilities. Even Allura hurt him emotionally with constant rejection. – Keith thought back to the time Lance wanted to talk about being a paladin too many. How he discarded his feelings. How he told him to leave the math to Pidge, as if he couldn’t do simple math. And that quiznacking show. He remembered his words.

_I don’t want to spend an eternity with him._

And Lance what had he said? Just compliments to him, how him being part galra _was_ a good thing, how he was the future. Lance had never hurt anyone emotionally or on purpose. He might explode from time to time, but never wanting to hurt the other. And them? They had abused that.

He remembered the princess death. Coran couldn’t say good bye or even get a hug from her before leaving. He thought all of them were being considerate of his feelings not bringing back the topic. He never thought that being considerate of his feelings would hurt Lance.

But Lance was right.

Nobody mourned with him, nobody stayed to see if he was ok. And nobody kept in contact with him until Shiro’s wedding and now Hunk’s. And even then he couldn’t remember talking to him for more than a few minutes.

A little cry of surprise startled all the people watching the film.

Allura was crying.

She knew the marks, she had seen them and cherished them. She thought they were a connection to Lance, as family members, but now she knew. Those marks he had were not natural, unlike hers. She had given them to him in the past, before dying according to what she had heard.

Had she given them to him fully knowing she was going to be reborn? Or was she just that cruel? Had she truly loved Lance?

Lotor cursed softly. He had been near the princess and knew how cruel she could be. She probably hadn’t thought of this scenario.

-Allura… - but she didn’t want to talk. She just kept touching her marks. And seeing little almost imperceptible white lines around Lance’s marks. He had truly wanted to literally take them off.

-The marks…- she didn’t even managed to finish that sentence.

-The marks show how powerful one is. That is why you, Lance and even Coran have them. I don’t have them since I’m weak. The rest of the humans don’t have them since they are weak, they need to hurt others in order to feel good about themselves. – he had managed to calm the little girl.

-Then, papa is powerful? – the thick silence was cut thanks to Lotor’s intervention.

-The strongest- and the little girl finally smiled.

Keith kept looking the video without interrupting. He paid attention to the details. He also saw the lines from the knife wounds. Had that been the reason he didn’t stay on Earth? After all the longing he did? Probably yes, all alone and far from home.

_Family can hurt you._

_Friends can hurt you._

_Your most precious people could hurt you._

And they had done a big damage albeit unknowingly.

Had Lance’s family discovered him cutting his face? The face he was so proud of since he took great care with it? That was a probability. Why else he would have run away from Earth? From his precious planet? Something big must have happened and he guessed it was the marks.

What hurt Keith the most was that Lance wanted to believe in them. He still didn’t want to give up on his friends even if he had put distance between them. He guessed Lance was very hurt and was thinking how to put it in words that couldn’t hurt them, even if they don’t deserve that kind of consideration.

Allura was looking at Lotor. She heard his father tell the other man that Lotor was bad in the past, but from all the time she knew him, he was nice. The facts didn’t add, there was something she was missing, something big and probably dangerous to know, but she still wanted to have the knowledge.

Lotor on the other hand was looking at Keith, waiting to see if he had a chance to redeem himself, the half breed looked confused, sad even. He wasn’t expecting the other paladins to look for him, or even Lance. He was under the impression all reunited to get Allura, as if the older male was a very bad influence on her, which wasn’t the case, mind you.

All were watching how the blue paladin broke down crying. All wanting to hug him and make it better. The transmission was cut off short thanks to Krolia.

-I’m disappointed in all of you, Keith. Voltron seemed more compassionate with other aliens, even enemies than with your own friend. Lance told me all about that show, how awful he felt after it ended. Even how he died, lived somewhat and now with the kids. It’s just too much. He is a good friend, and people abuse that small fact. Just because he is nice, a good friend and can be easily hurt, doesn’t mean you _have_ to hurt him. And I admit that was the main reason I adopted him as my son- and that hurt a lot more to Keith, since Krolia talked and knew Lance in a way nobody did. Sure, they talked but not a lot, and not so deep to know the feelings of the Cuban, even if he tried once or twice to reach that point.

He looked at Sven. The guy could be one of Shiro’s clone for all he knew and yet Lance believed in him. Why? How could he believe in others so easily? Wasn’t he afraid of getting hurt? Had Sven do something to prove his innocence?

All were deep in concentration.

All thinking about the mistakes they have made.

-I believe the others need to watch the film- and Krolia agreed, giving him a copy for the others. As soon as he had it, he left deep in thinking.

He managed to contact the others and pass the video, he saw their reactions after watching the 10-minute video and knew they had messed up, big time.

Shiro was the first one to speak, much to everyone’s surprise.

-We need to mend this- and all agreed, their friend needed them and didn’t even know that. Or he probably did know it, but wanted to do things by himself. Pidge was starting to see how little by little their friend was still there but nobody noticed until he disappeared with the babies, now big kids.

-The problem, Shiro, is that it isn’t so easy. A broken bone? Sure, put a cast and it gets fixed in a few weeks. Emotional hurt? It can never heal. And we hurt him, emotionally, time and time again. It honestly is a wonder how he even considers us friends- she wanted to add that she was one of the people who hurt him the most.

The silence that followed that statement was creeping them out. But, Pidge was right. And now they had to fix what could be fixed, starting by giving Lotor a second chance, and getting to know the blue paladin in a way they didn’t do before.

-Maybe if we speak with his family. On Earth- Coran’s suggestion was a good one, although Keith was worried about what he could find once they decided to go investigate the past of their friend.

-That’s a great idea. I know Lance’s family, we were almost siblings- Hunk decided Shay and him would be supporting his friend all the way, he knew part of the reason Lance was like that, but that wasn’t enough. He needed to know more. And he would do it, with all the team right next to him.

Shiro was thinking hard. Lance did a lot for the team, and now it was payback time.

-We should divide in teams. I am worried about why Sven was attacked and how they found that information about Lance’s babies. He could be targeted by someone we know nothing about, and that is dangerous- Pidge smiled.

-I already though about that, Matt and the Blade would be in charge of his security, both parties are skilled in combat, and probably he would feel safer with them than with us. Right now we aren’t his favorite people- it hurt to know the truth but it was needed.

Lotor let out a sigh.

-Be prepared, it will not be pretty- he knew a little about Lance after hearing the video, if his friends didn’t notice then they were blind.

-We know- at least Shiro thought they knew.

And so they traveled to Earth, after telling Lance they would be in contact and that they would be searching for the culprit of leaking the information about the babies. Worried about the little ones, Lance accepted to be protected by the rebels and the Blade, which seemed to make Krolia happy, since she and Kolivan wanted to teach him how to fight.

It took a week to arrive to Earth.

It took almost another one to talk to Lance’s mother without her crying non-stop.

Hunk greeted the older woman as he would greet his own mother. He introduced the rest of the team and how they were related to Lance and him. Explaining the whole rivalry thing took almost two hours just to end with Lance’s mom telling them how she was sure Lance started the rivalry by being childish, which made everyone laugh because she was so spot on that it was funny.

-So, why are you really visiting? - Cassandra was sure something big had happened since all the team came with one exception, his son Lance. She hopped they came with good news, but seeing how he was the only one missing she didn’t really raise her hopes.

-It’s about Lance- she truly didn’t want to cry, but usually that was the way people told bad news. Still, she smiled and let them continue, it was Keith who had started speaking, much to her surprise, since she was expecting Hunk or even Shiro to tell all about what had happened with his son.

-He… is in a very bad place emotionally. We came here to know more about him, I would like to say we are friends, but honestly I only know he has siblings and he is from Cuba. With so little information I can’t truly say I know him as a friend should- Cassandra knew that, even she wasn’t sure to know her son, not so much.

-I am guessing you saw his marks, about how he tried to cut them- the silence was her confirmation. Their guilty faces were all she needed to tell them. –He cut himself, at night, his room was a bloody mess, he was a bloody mess. He had tried to literally cut the marks off, even if it meant he would scar. Since we were about to send him to therapy, he left without saying goodbye. I am guessing he went to New Altea, since the flowers that he loved are there, junipers I believe they are- at this Coran was the only one to look at the floor. He had failed his favorite paladin, even when he had truly loved the princess.

The question about how he had traveled in a few days left Coran thinking. They took a week, almost two if the red lion hadn’t helped them, how could Lance travel so fast from one galaxy to another? Was there even a machine so fast here on Earth? Pidge seemed to be thinking the same, probably the only one noticing the difference in time, but not interrupting the older woman.

-My best guess would be he didn’t want us to worry about him, but we did. Veronica wanted to go visit him, but she had duties to attend here on Earth. After a year we knew he had left New Altea to an unknown place. It’s been almost 7 years without knowing about him or why he left New Altea. If you have any information…- it was Hunk who interrupted her this time.

-He has two babies, Lotor and Allura got somehow reborn the year after they died and now are his kids. It seems like he didn’t want anybody to know about them until they were older and able to fend for themselves. Sadly, the babies were discovered and he fled to an unknown destination. We found him a week or so ago, he is now under the care of the Blades, our most trusted allies- that seemed to calm down the older woman, his son was safe, she could rest a little with that information although she still worried about his mental health.

-I’m a grandma and he didn’t tell me? - Keith smiled, Lance definitely got his drama act from her. It was like watching Lance be dramatic about something trivial. Everybody was glad about that interruption since it lightened the atmosphere.

-Here are the babies, when they were babies and now- Pidge had created a little Rover and brought it with her just to show Cassandra pictures of his son and grandchildren. She knew how important was the family even if it was across galaxies.

Silent tears ran down her face and gave Pidge a very big hug, one she thought warm, as warm as Lance’s hugs were, and let herself cry after knowing how much they had hurt him.

-Why isn’t Lance with you? - the truth was she was scared of the answer. Was the boy missing because he had been hurt? She knew he was emotionally unstable, he had suffered a lot, even entering the Garrison was difficult to him, making true friends was a challenge and let’s not talk about saving the universe.

-He is hiding with the Blades, also I believe he wouldn’t approve of us coming here to ask about him. To get to know him more. Also we had questions that need answer, and you already gave us some of the answers we needed- Shiro tried to look calm, but he wasn’t, honestly he was freaking out.

How can you tell the woman in front of you that her son was a cinnamon roll that assisted to his best friend’s wedding just to be ignored? That he helped him and Keith to mend their relationship even when his own relationships with the others was crumbling? They had been horrible and now wanted to fix it and he guessed the woman in front of him knew it, since her eyes saw them with so much compassion and understanding that holding the gaze was difficult enough.

Coran was the one to interrupt.

-I still can’t understand how Lance arrived so fast on New Altea. Even using Red, the fastest lion, it takes about a week to arrive, and from what you say, it took him a couple of days at most- silence was his answer.

If the children in front of her didn’t know about Lance’s powers, then she wouldn’t tell them. It was Lance’s secret to tell.

-I don’t know much about science, but maybe there was a ship fast enough- Pidge doubted it, she suspected the older woman knew but wasn’t willing to share. She was good at hiding things, same as Lance, and only now did she recognized when both were hiding something, still she didn’t rattle her out. If she wasn’t willing to share, she probably had guessed how they had hurt her son.

A few hours passed talking about how they moved from Cuba, to a place near the Garrison. How Lance had posters of Shiro all around his room, the ceiling full of stars and planets. How hard was for him to enter the program, how sad he was for being rejected as a fighter pilot just to be put in the cargo class.

Hunk remembered that time, Lance had entered the fighter pilot program just to be compared to Keith, whom didn’t recognize Lance, not at first, and when he did recognize him it was just to call him a cargo pilot, title he loathed since it reminded Lance of his failure. The only one knowing that information was Hunk.

-This is the first time he has hurt himself- her mother admitted, sure, Lance was insecure, and doubted himself a lot more than others, but to hurt himself was another topic. Until now he hadn’t done so, but after Allura’s death he had changed, starting from the marks. Seeing the photos, he had resigned to have them on his face, he wasn’t happy about the marks.

Keith wanted to believe in his friend, a few years far from home, with homesickness, constantly called dumb and compared to him. Honestly, it would be a miracle if the boy hadn’t been self-harming since time ago, but according to Kolivan, the only things Sven found were past scars across his back, and little ones around his marks. It seems the pods could heal but sometimes scars were inevitable, especially if the wounds were extensive.

He thought Lance was stronger than he let on. Physically he was built in a way that could easily make him stronger than him, even stronger than Shiro if he used his body in the right way. And emotionally, he was the best, always looking out for others, considerate and helping, and if he got hurt he just brushed it aside, as if knowing it was unintentional. The proof he needed was Sven’s medical report. Lance hadn’t self-harmed even if he had enough reasons to do it.

Has Lance been holding back? Probably. He took great care of the emotional part of all the paladins without it being recognized or even giving priority to his feelings, since he could only remember the times Pidge, Allura, Shiro, he and even sometimes Hunk belittled his feelings.

Phrases like _“not now Lance, go away”, “leave the math to Pidge”, “be more serious Lance, this is important”_ or _“you wouldn’t understand”,_ he remembered them, and not even then had Lance stood up for himself, he had let them vent but when he wanted to be heard, he was ignored, favoring the others. He still felt bad about how he tried to warn them about Lotor and all had brushed him aside, and at one point let him believe in Lotor, when he had been right since the beginning.

He now realized how much it must have hurt.

_To not be trusted by friends._

_To be told how he lacked intelligence, strength, even physical beauty._

_He wanted to tell the other how sorry he was._

Because he now realized Lance had broken bonds with everybody, probably thinking he could only believe in himself, and probably this was the reason Lotor told him to be prepared because it wasn’t going to be pretty.

And he had been right.

It was a very ugly mess.

Rachel was the one to come up to them once they left the McClain household.

-Probably mom didn’t tell you everything she knows since even us, as family, hurt him, but I want him to give it a go at the thing of being friends. And you all seem sincere about trying to make it better- Hunk was openly crying now, apologizing left and right about how he was such a horrible friend.

-And do you know something? – Shiro was the one taking the lead since everybody else was having a mental breakdown. He had experience in that area since he had helped Matt to keep his sanity, he had to train younger generations and had to deal with PTSD, contrary to Pidge who was training the new generation but only in the use of technology and how it could improve everything.

-Yes. The day he left us, he used the most basic machine you could think of, it was a token of gratitude from some aliens, considering how advanced is Voltron’s technology, I highly doubt he could arrive to New Altea in less than a week. I saw something in the sky and then Lance’s machine had vanished, however he seemed to know what he was doing- this new piece of information made everybody think.

How could Lance move so fast?

The only explanation Pidge found was using a wormhole but without a teludav and Allura it was impossible.

 _So,_ _how was Lance able to do it?_


	3. QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS

**QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS**

They returned to Krolia’s place, after a week with no answers and even more questions. Lance wasn’t going to tell them how he did it. Lotor knew but he was protecting the paladin and didn’t say anything to the others, a fact Lance was grateful for, Allura knew too but since Lotor and Lance hadn’t say anything she kept silent as well, they always did the things they did with a reason for it.

Pidge was trying to figure things out but nothing made sense.

Lance was a simple human, he wasn’t half galra as Keith who could go feral and change the color of his eyes if he gets very angry, or even completely Altean as Coran and Allura, who could transform their bodies according to what was needed.

Then how did he do it?

According to Coran, the marks Allura left were a memento of her, a way for him to remember her. She thought it was a cruel practice since he had truly loved her and losing her after just getting together and everybody having a happy ending was just like a slap on the face, more if you consider the marks as a permanent reminder of her.

She wanted answers, but she had only questions.

Lotor knew more, seeing him protect Lance like that made her heart hurt. Lance had always protected her as Matt would have, as an older sibling. And what had she done? Just hurt the poor man, belittling his intelligence, neglecting his friendship, the small acts of caring she took them as granted.

In short, she felt awful.

-You should investigate more about the Robeast, the alteans, and how you have seen the world until now. You will be horrified by the answer. Be prepared, the Princess isn’t as innocent as you would like, that was part of the reason I fell in love with her- Pidge was torn. Allura had been like an older sister, the sister she never had, to see her as something more than pure and innocent would be wrong of her.

But thinking back, maybe Lotor was right. When she had the opportunity she was willing to sacrifice everything to win against Haggar, she even refused Lance’s date, the only one they would have if she had accepted, after that she saw how sad and miserable he was and still did nothing.

She truly felt like a terrible friend.

Deciding that nothing could be done about it, she decided to investigate what Lotor suggested. He might be a kid, but still had the memories of his older self, and for him to try to help Lance spoke volumes to her.

The first one she would investigate with Shiro’s help was Myzax. Apparently, Haggar transformed the former champion into a beast using a process no one knew about. Shiro suspected it had something to do with quintessence since the witch was so obsessed about it, and she agreed. That was the logical way of thinking, after all.

Then they fought another one on Balmera, Drazil or Evangelion as she preferred to call it, since it reminded her of said anime. Physically it was very similar, and very hard to kill. Talking about abilities, Drazil had ones that Mizax didn’t. She still didn’t know if it was because the power they get depended on what the witch did, or if it went accordingly with the physical capabilities of the body.

Prorok was a very difficult Robeast. Ulaz had to sacrifice himself and even with that, it could barely be considered a win. He knew what needed to be done, and he did it in a way that could affect the adversary considerably, thus making her think that the robeast had at least some ounce of intelligence and were not simple puppets.

Also, the one they fought on Olkarion. She didn’t think it was the witch doing, but one could never be sure, since the beast was powerful enough to classify as a Robeast. Plus, they fought similar beings and if they needed quintessence to work then they were up to fight a very powerful enemy, although considering this one was found on Olkarion, then maybe it wasn’t needed quintessence, but technology.

And if it was technology, it was a very powerful technology, enough to rival Voltron’s. but this information was not enough. If it was truly technology, then Lance had no way to get it, because he wasn’t smart enough.

She was again belittling his intelligence, and she felt guilty for it, but if anybody could use that kind of technology would be either Hunk, her father, Matt or herself.

But she needed to be realistic, was Lance truly that intelligent? Probably not on the same level as her or Matt or even Hunk, but he wasn’t a complete idiot, he could do things if he wanted.

Had Lance used technology? Why had Lotor told her about the alteans? Maybe she should speak with Romelle and Coran.

After discussing her plan with Shiro, he agreed to help her by talking with Coran while she went with Romelle. Time was not on their side so they needed to hurry and discover the mysteries that surrounded their friend, if they could still consider him their friend after being so inconsiderate to him.

-Thank you Shiro- and after giving him a communicator in case he found something, she left to see Romelle.

Romelle was traveling with Rolo and Nyma, helping planets and creating safe routes for the Blades to pass and help other planets. Right now they were taking a break at Vashti, a planet with alteans living in it, since not all were willing to live at New Altea, not after discovering that the colony was in reality a way to kill alteans. Now they were more careful about it.

It was a very short greeting and they went straight to the point. While Romelle and Lance were not exactly best friends, she considered him precious friend, and for that reason she was willing to help Pidge.

-Lance has altean marks? – Romelle couldn’t believe her ears, the altean marks were something you were born with, as the pointy ears were. For Lance to only have the marks, was strange since the marks and ears were characteristically for alteans.

Pidge’s explanation put Romelle deep in thought.

Why would Allura give him marks? How could she do it? Marks were genetic, not something you just implanted on others just by wishing it. Was it possible to do that? Had she modified Lance in his genetic structure?

She was horrified by that, her face showed the same emotion.

-So far, there hasn’t been a case like Lance in all history. Our marks are genetic, we can’t just _put_ them on others. - and even Pidge could comprehend that. She was sure the marks, and all the abilities they had were genetic and this just confirmed it.

-Do you happen to know if there are myths about this? – because at this point in time, she was willing to believe in myths.

-No… Or at least not that I recall - she wanted to help Pidge, but with so little information to go by, it was impossible. –If you would like I can ask the other alteans to see if I find something- Pidge appreciated it and thanked her for all the help given.

Genetics.

Could Lance be a modified human? Could he be considered part altean? If the Robeast were once living beings, then could Lance be a type of Robeast? That would explain how he hid the gunshot he got before Lotor exposed him. Robeast had a high pain tolerance, and were very powerful.

She needed to check if Lance was more powerful, but will he be willing to help? It was clear the trust he had in the team had broken, even with his own family. Could she truly expect him to cooperate with her? How could she say she wanted to help after belittling him so much? She could hardly look at him face to face.

Physically he looked still like a human, just the marks were altean, not even his ears were pointy like Coran’s.

Why had Romelle been so horrified? Was it bad that he had a memento from Allura? She agreed that it was a bit extreme to mark the other as if he were just a possession, but still, it had been her parting gift to Lance, one he couldn’t say no. He had loved her deeply.

Maybe it was a prohibited thing? Something akin to a sin? Had Allura broken an unspoken rule about transmitting the marks? She knew the princess, sometimes she _did_ break the rules, but only if she had a reason to do it.

What was her reason to do it then?

Romelle was a little bit of help, and if she could find more information with her fellow alteans then that was going to count as a victory, right now what she needed was more information, and she secretly hoped that Shiro had better luck than her.

Unfortunately, Shiro was having a lot of difficulties with Coran. The poor man blamed himself for neglecting the paladin, probably causing him to self-harm, he was blaming himself, Shiro did too, but now they needed the information and he was being delayed by his antics.

-Coran, please, I just need to know if you know something- he wasn’t asking for a lot, just any kind of information, but the older man started talking about the older times, how he was as a youngster, and how he appreciated Lance and had failed him.

After spending time with the older altean he now understood why Lance loved to hear his stories. Coran had a lot of interesting and useful information, however he tended to rant and miss the importance of things, and still, Lance liked to hear him just to gather more information about alien species, to be a better diplomat and maybe even a better paladin in Allura’s eyes.

Right now, he was talking about how much Lance reminds him of his son. And he understood the feelings, he had acted as a space dad for them, but now was not the time. He also didn’t know what to look for specifically, he never bonded with the others, and he admitted the fact since the one time he was dead, he couldn’t communicate with Lance.

That frustrated him to no end.

-Coran, do you know something? Anything might help- he was willing to believe old altean fairy tales if necessary.

-Nothing comes to my mind, but last time I checked Lance was as healthy as a Balmera in full bloom- it might be the stress, or maybe the feeling of failing Lance what was holding him back from useful memories, so he decided to let it go.

Contacting Pidge just to tell her he couldn’t find anything useful was complicated, she was frustrated since the same happened to her, they were getting more questions than solutions.

-So, what can we do now? – Curtis was supporting him in helping find something to bond with Lance, but unfortunately nothing was giving results and that was stressing Shiro out.

-I honestly have no idea- although she guessed Keith could talk to the red lion asking for more information or solutions. She needed to see if it will work.

-A lot of mysteries are surrounding him. Why only the altean marks and not also the pointy ears? I mean Allura said our ears were hideous, so surely, she could add that to the modifications if she so wished it- and Pidge nodded in agreement.

-But don’t you think changing his body without permission is just cruel? It is as if he were just a toy, no feelings, no nothing- and he knew she was right. He had felt the same when the galra took his human arm to give him the galra one.

-True, and she wasn’t cruel- at least not what he remembered of her. She had always been driven by her desire to win, to bring peace, but never being cruel, not even to her enemies. She had made some questionable choices but some were needed.

-I wonder if that is true- she wasn’t so sure anymore. After watching the video Keith showed them, she was sure Allura could be cruel and hurt people if needed, not always of course, but she wasn’t as innocent as everybody seemed to believe.

Shiro didn’t answer. He had seen how she treated the blue paladin and although he wanted to believe, he found it hard to do. He had literally given them a free day to enjoy before the war, hoping some would have a date, or fun, and he had found Lance alone trying to win prizes for the princess, since she had refused to go with him.

-Ok, I admit she can be kind of cruel, _but_ it can also be due to our different costumes. Maybe what for us is natural for her it wasn’t, like the milkshake thing- and that seemed reasonable enough, she could understand that, still she thought empathy was also something humans and aliens shared, she had seen it in other aliens.

She didn’t voice the last part she thought, in honor of the fallen princess’ memories.

-Let’s change the topic, what can we do now? I only got the idea that the marks were done due to Allura modifying Lance’s genetic structure- and that wasn’t optimal, yeah, maybe appearance-wise he would look altean, but was he really? Had she made him 1/3 altean?

-Isn’t that dangerous? – of course it was, he had seen what happened with the Robeast who were modified genetically. Would his friend arrive to such extreme?

-Let us hope he doesn’t become a Robeast- she didn’t know if it could happen, she had seen the video and getting the information that he had died and nobody knew was devastating, but that also meant Allura had messed with Lance enough.

_Bringing back to life a dead one._

_Changing his genetic structure to be similar to hers._

_All while still crushing on Lotor, destroying Lance’s self-steem._

-Can it happen? It has been a couple of years since then- he had died, revived, they won the war and he even managed to get the reborn versions of Lotor and Allura. If 7 years was not enough for the effects to show…

-It can. We don’t know exactly how he was revived, nor how is his genetic structure modified. One can affect the other one, for example making the process of becoming a Robeast slower, or even making him live longer instead of becoming a beast- the possibilities were endless, he could even be part altean for all they knew.

Hunk and the others had no luck either. Shay helped Hunk since she appreciated the blue paladin, but the information she got was not useful. Her ability to communicate with the Balmera couldn’t help her to communicate with his inner force.

Hunk had told her everything and Shay had been furious. For her, _all_ the paladins deserved the utmost respect, for the blue paladin to be disrespected like that by comrades was a dishonor. She felt disappointed in Voltron, they always said how they work together, friendship and all, and in important times, they dismissed his friend.

Coran was trying to think what to do. The princess surely had powers, she always did. Without the proper training it could be dangerous. He recognized that ignoring Lotor was his fault too, but he had missed princess Allura, and until Krolia mentioned it, he hadn’t realized and with shame he admitted that Lance probably did since he was always ignored in favor of the other paladins.

_He had been in Lotor’s place and decided it wasn’t healthy for a child so he left with the kids._

_He had been protecting them, even risking getting a bullet for them._

Sven was a great help, he admitted. He had been there when they weren’t able to be. He had become a trusted person in Lance’s opinion.

Plus, Sven had been taking care of a hurt Lance. He had seen the team, he saw the effort they put in order to make it better, but Lance didn’t want to see it. He couldn’t force him to see how everybody wanted to be better for him.

He still had things he needed to figure out, but nothing came to mind as to how to do it. He tried asking Coran, Krolia and even Kolivan but nothing worked.

-Why don’t you try hypnotism? You know, to bring back memories of your past self and those things. It is a method used on Earth although I can’t warranty it will work out- he ended up accepting, any help at this point would be welcomed.

The result wasn’t as planned.

_Darkness._

_The feeling of being alone._

_Death._

_Thousands of people dead._

_And the paladins._

_He had met them, at some point, maybe that was the reason he remembered them. He remembered Lance in particular, a bond he couldn’t form._

_Regret._

_A lot of regret._

_And hundreds of clones._

_His clones._

_He was a clone, the only one that survived only to be stranded in a far away planet, a long time ago._

When he woke up, he saw Lance’s concerned expression. He had been tossing around, crying and asking for help.

-I’m a clone- he still couldn’t believe it. His memories weren’t his. He could remember things that should better be left alone.

-I know. I always did. That is why I gave you an opportunity – because if he was Shiro’s clone, then he had memories he would like to forget.

Sven wanted to ask, but couldn’t.

How did he know?

A sad smile crossed the Cuban’s face.

-Your quintessence. Is similar but different. It reminded me of the fake Shiro, but you aren’t Kuron- Sven wanted to tell him that quintessence wasn’t the same as a heat signature or perfume or birthmark. For him to be able to distinguish quintessence was dangerous since normal humans couldn’t do it.

-You are warmer- as a person, and in quintessence, but somehow the energy felt different depending on the parallel universe. He could now distinguish it, contrary to when he was brought back to life.

-You do know it is not normal to know people due to their quintessence, right? – he hoped he knew that. And if he did it made him wonder why he didn’t tell a soul.

-I know- the pained expression he did made Sven shut up. The young one looked as old as Yoda, suddenly he seemed to have aged a lot in a few seconds. –I’m still a phenomenon. I can’t be called human- he wanted to be called that, but each time he discovered something he felt less human.

Sven was getting seriously worried, the wounded person in front of him didn’t believe he was worth to be saved since he wasn’t even human, nor half galra as his friend. He thought he was a mess nobody cared for.

But he did.

How could he not? He had been the one to give him an opportunity, even saving him from galra. He saw the best of him even if he couldn’t. How could he not do the same to him?

-I believe we need to check that out. It could be dangerous- but Lance refused. He wanted to know why.

-Because I know I am dying- he seemed so sure of it. He wanted to believe he was wrong. He must be wrong.

-How do you know? – that was not something he should be able to say just like that.

-Secret- he sounded tired, as if he was just joking.

Sven was curious, the human seemed to be so sure about him dying but not asking medical help. He had seen the bullet wound and it had disappeared in a few days, his skin as if nothing happened.

-Actually it looks as if you weren’t shot a few days ago. Do you have any pain? – the negative answer worried him. Usually after a wound, without the pods, there was some kind of sequel, but in Lance’s case there wasn’t a sequel, not even a mark to show he had been shot.

-The same happened to the marks I tried to cut, the only scar I got was a very small one, one you have to be looking for it to find it- he recovered quickly with little to no sequel.

-I hope you do know that is in no way normal- and the blue paladin did.

-Having altean marks while being human isn’t entirely normal either- Sven recognized he had a point. -For a moment I thought you were the Sven we found from the alternative universe. So, you are one of Shiro’s clones that managed to survive. How did you get the name of Sven? - Sven tried to think carefully to answer.

-It sounded right. I do have all of Shiro’s memories, however after the fight the clone had with Keith, I fell and got hit pretty badly. I lost my memories up to that point. The name sounded right and I wanted to help. A few aliens helped me along the way, they taught me medicine- the warm smile from the younger one was calming.

-So, you know… about my team and I- the sad tone was what worried the older male. He knew, and he felt awful. He might not be the real Shiro that acted that way, yet he still felt bad for him.

-Yeah. Everybody was harsh to you- it had been years since Lance wanted to hear the same words but from the real Shiro. To have his team ask for his forgiveness since they were the ones in the wrong, instead a clone had been the one to console him.

-Can you keep this a secret? I want them to find out on their own. Since you became another person entirely and not just Shiro’s clone, I would like you to forget the past, to treat me as a friend because you really care about me and not out of pity or because you feel bad about the past that wasn’t even your fault- and he agreed. That was all he wanted to do, be his friend.

-I still worry about what you were saying about dying- but he got no answer to that.

-All humans die someday, today just isn’t my day- Sven was getting worried, that didn’t sound normal to his ears. It was as if he was wishing death, he wanted to ask if his intuition was right but something hold him back.

_Maybe it was the eyes he saw._

_Or the body language that screamed how tired he was._

_Or just how Lance seemed to age so much in just a few minutes right in front of him._

-Just for this once I will keep quiet, but you must know I am strongly against your idea of keeping quiet- and he was grateful for Sven’s silence. He knew he was asking him too much; he truly didn’t deserve the friendship he offered him.

-Really, thank you. It means the world to me- carefully the older male tended his wound that seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

-I think you mean the world to them. Maybe giving them an opportunity won’t be so bad- and he wanted to give the others an opportunity but was scared, scared of being hurt again, of being discarded as the goofball, to be neglected as he had been until now. He was conscious they didn’t do it on purpose, and that was also the reason it hurt so much.

-Maybe I will…someday- and that was all Sven needed. He quietly left the room and called Krolia, probably the rest of the team was needed too, but he was kind of afraid of Keith. Now that he remembered the memories of the clone, he was kind of afraid of the younger paladin.

It had been a close match, and he had lost. Keith might look smaller but he had power, if he wanted he could have easily killed Kuron, but he didn’t do it since he looked the same as Shiro. He had been friends with Kuron, he had a reason not to hurt him.

_Feelings. Emotions were such a pain in the ass._

-Can we talk? - and Krolia accepted, Kolivan right at her side. If it had to do with Lance, they needed to be the first ones to know if something was wrong.

-What did you discover? – Kolivan went straight for the answer he wanted. Something was wrong with the blue paladin, the rest weren’t able to discover anything and instead got more questions than answers.

-He said he was dying- the shocked face of both surrogate parents made him continue his explanation. –But I don’t think so. He was shot, yet the wound disappeared. A dying person can’t heal that fast, not without the help of the pods. – and his explanation made sense, the pods hurried the process of healing. It was not a miracle chamber, the pods literally took part of their life force and quintessence to help the body heal, that was the reason that if they could avoid the use of the pods, that was preferable.

-He has no wound? – Kolivan didn’t believe it. When Sven explained things like how he cut his face and he barely had the scars from trying to cut the altean marks, he believed he had something else going on, not necessarily him dying.

-Not even a scratch- he showed him pictures he sneaked and how was the wound before and after disappearing.

-Humans don’t heal that fast- it was Krolia who interrupted the talk. She had lived on Earth, she knew that being shot took a long time to heal. Contrary to earth guns, the ones they used had no bullet to get out, their guns _burnt_ everything, making it difficult to heal on their own, to heal it needed a lot of care and humans were fragile. Without proper care it was impossible to heal so fast.

-I know, that is the reason I say it isn’t normal how fast he healed- Sven had been trying to think of a logical answer, but so far unless Lance had a cryopod on him and managed to sneak to it to heal, there was no logical explanation.

-So, you are saying it is a miracle? – the raised eyebrow from Kolivan was hard to miss. He didn’t believe it, not even one bit.

-No, I am saying that he might be doing something unconsciously but I don’t know if it is something recent or if this had been going on from time before- and the only ones that could give an answer was his team. They had been with him during the war. They must know.

Krolia decided to video call Keith, they needed to know _now_.

-Heal? He had to enter the pods every time. Except when he died, nobody noticed it so we never put him inside a pod. But when the bomb exploded he needed a pod, and after his dead he also entered the pods for a while- since the pods didn’t let out an injured person then Lance hadn’t been able to heal himself then.

-And after getting the marks? – the silence that followed was brutal.

-We all went to the hospital to get treated. He never mentioned being able to heal so fast and we never asked, he was with his family and we never interrupted them. – guilt was crossing his face. Everybody was with their loved ones, nobody checked how the other was doing. It truly looked like they didn’t care about the others.

Now that the three thought about it, it was very easy to hide his injuries to his parents and family, he was a very good actor, beside the family would be hoping to get good news about his recovery.

-We are idiots, aren’t we? – Sven nodded, he felt bad about them but it was true. If they had paid more attention, then nothing could have happened.

\- And we still lack answers. The ones I managed to find are not enough to help him- and they knew it. For all they knew, Lance was dying by his own words, no medical proof about it.

-And if we study his whole composition? We can compare his composition to Hunk’s. If there is any change…- it was possible, but that required time.

-Let’s do it. We don’t have the time since we are under attack. Whoever attacked Lance is going to keep going until he dies, so we need to act fast. – Keith preferred the idea of destroying the enemy and get answers later. So far, that method hadn’t failed him.

-I will try to get him to agree to it. He seems unsure about doing it. – the red paladin wanted to kill Sven, but so far if anyone had the remote possibility of getting Lance to agree to being inspected as they were planning to do it, then it was Sven. He had to admit the fact that their bonds were broken and even if they had the good will of mending it, it was going to take time, maybe it could be even impossible.

-Thank you. I will contact the others and explain the situation so we can get the enemies position and completely obliterate them- Krolia smiled, his son was very protective of his friends. That was a good thing because they would probably need all the help they could get.

Keith had sounded so sure about the method, but now that the call ended he wasn’t so sure anymore. He was sure the others would help discovering and eliminating the enemy, the problem was that there wasn’t a clue about who or what this mysterious enemy was.

Honerva? Dead, according to Lotor she had given up her chance at reincarnation in order for him to be with the princess.

Galra? Almost 90% of all the galra population was under Krolia and Kolivan’s command, swearing loyalty to the new leader, which fortunately wasn’t him.

Zarkon? Dead, it seems he supported Honerva’s idea of getting Lotor and Allura together and also gave up his chance at reincarnation.

Then who? All the other enemy galra were dead, and although many despised Lotor, few knew the fact that he was alive. It needed to be someone close to the source of information.

Sven? Sven reminded him of Shiro, if Shiro’s hair hadn’t completely whitened. He was so similar that he thought he might be a clone or even a person from another universe trapped here.

Another paladin? Hopefully not. He wanted to trust his team members.

Then who?

He just had questions and no answers.

-Pidge? We have to talk- and if you have no answers, you ask others for help. He had learned the lesson after Lance had showed him how to be a leader. Why he wasn’t the black paladin after Shiro’s death was a mystery to him, although his mind gave him some answers he preferred not to know.

_Shiro was the black lion._

_He had wanted him to be the leader._

_Lance had been a better option but Shiro got biased and forced him to be the leader._

_Nobody actually got expectations about Lance being a leader._

_All thought the princess, Hunk, Pidge or even him would be the next leader._

_Nobody actually thought Lance capable of leadership even if he did get them out of trouble and mended the interactions in a way that neither he nor Shiro could._

Remembering that time, he noticed how everybody hurried him to get out. Could he remember the face he made?

Yes, he could.

Lance had looked utterly _destroyed._

And no body tried to talk to him.

Just how many times had they let down the other paladin? Just how much could they be considered friends? Even a team?

-I am not Google, you know? Even if you ask me, I don’t know everything. I might know things nobody else might, but I am still just a human- she sounded irritated. She knew the importance of the answer Keith was seeking, but even her mind couldn’t thing of a logical explanation. Maybe Lotor’s words were still fresh in her mind.

-I know Pidge, I know but I still need more people to help me think of a solution, of an answer- and unfortunately only Lance seemed to know the answers but was not telling a thing. The only thing he said was he was dying.

What a thing to say and expect them to keep quiet!

Although if one thought from his point of view then he could understand. All this time they kept quiet, he told some truths like Lotor not being an ally and all dismissed it, or his feelings, or plans and even ideas that might be crazy but could work _because he had faith in the team_.

-I know, but so far I know nothing- and she wanted to help, but everything was so mixed she couldn’t make out heads and tails.

-He said he was dying. Sven told us of his mysterious recovery- he showed her pictures expecting at least a theory but was met with silence.

-You know what I think? That Lance is a robeast- he had expected all but that. Lance a beast? Just from healing so fast? Also how could he be even a robeast? Robeast were created by Honerva and she is dead.

-Don’t joke. It’s not funny- but she was serious. Oh god, she was speaking seriously. How the hell could Lance manage that?

-I’m not joking. I believe he might not be human, at least not entirely- she looked tired, Matt arrived and greeted him from behind Pidge.

-Keith, we believe Lance might be part alien, like you- but he was sure Lance was human, after the war he saw his family. Yep, everyone as human, he surely could spot an alien from the distance and his family was normal.

-Pidge, Matt…Guys, you saw his parents, they were human- unless somehow they were aliens able to blend and look completely like humans.

-Physically at least yes. But, you saw the alteans. They can change their body to look like other species. Maybe they find it easier to look humans since the changes the body needs are minimal at best- that made sense to the Holt brothers, but not to Keith.

-But he didn’t have the marks when we first recued Shiro- surely that could have caught the attention of the Garrison or at least of them, but he had been a normal human so far.

-Camouflage. Hiding parts of the body after modifying it doesn’t sound so extreme- she showed him pictures of Lotor. –Look, Lotor had the marks and he is half altean. The marks were not permanent and as to why they appeared it is still a mystery to me since he didn’t know about them when they first appeared. This might be a clue to solve the puzzle- Keith’s eyes widened and Matt knew that look, he was ready to interrogate a child.

-Keith, don’t pester Lotor a lot. He might have his memories but he is still a child, Lance’s child- that last phrase was all it took for Keith to stop. He wasn’t going to hurt a kid just to get answers about his friend.

-But Lotor may have the answers, don’t you see? His marks _vanished_ after a few hours, Lance’s didn’t vanish even after years. There must be a reason! – and the Holt brothers understood, they wanted to help too but if this was something even Lotor was unaware of, then there was little to do.

-I agree that the marks can be a clue, however we don’t know if there is something else about them- things were getting dangerous. The team was drifting apart and Lance wasn’t there to put them together. Shiro wanted to be the one doing that but was busy asking aliens from all the Coalition to help if they knew something, even asking people at the space mall.

-Can we at least investigate them? – and she had agreed. That was the least they could do to help.

-Sure, let me talk to Lotor and see what I can do- after thanking her, he left to speak with Kolivan. He knew they had a chat long overdue.

-Keith, can I help you with something? – after knowing everything Kolivan became distant, and he knew it was because he was disappointed, even he was disappointed in himself if he wanted to tell the truth.

-I want to talk with you about Lance- that got the older galra’s attention. –His marks. It is something we are going to investigate- with or without his permission was left unsaid, he knew the older alien understood.

-How do you plan to do it? The poor child is in a very bad shape mentally speaking, he honestly wants friends but is unsure about all of your intentions. And I believe he is right to be afraid, you all spoke about friendship, teamwork and what do I see? You leave him at the first chance you got- even if that chance was the death of the princess.

-Lotor also had the marks, but his disappeared after a few hours at most. Why his marks disappeared while Lance’s stayed? It is a mystery that maybe he can help us with- but the sad face of Kolivan made him think that maybe they were making a mistake.

-Not only you hurt my son, but now you want to use Lotor as if he were not a living being? Humans are crueler than I thought – and that hurt because it was true, he never stopped to think how Lotor or even Lance would feel about them poking at them with needles and trying to get answers.

Even if he had pure intentions, he never considered the feelings his actions may cause.

That was Lance’s area of expertise, not his. He liked to go straight to the point, to the source. He never considered his words as a weapon, but now from Kolivan’s point of view he could see how they were a very harmful weapon.

_Unintentionally he had hurt his friend._

_And unintentionally he was going to hurt him again._

Just how much more does Lance have to suffer? Along with Hunk, he was one of the purest beings he knew. Sure, he flirted and maybe from time to time he said totally inappropriate things but his intentions were pure.

And the team, hell, even he, had abused that characteristic.

-We just want to help. And in order to help Lance stop whoever attacked him, we need answers. He could hide for 7 years! The children are powerful, he managed to get them to safety. He is very capable but needs our help! We want to help- but was it even welcomed that help? Little by little he doubted it.

-Lotor is powerful because he has his memories and thus, knows how to fight and maybe even play dirty, however he motivated the princess to learn self-defense too, he wanted her to be able to fight back. Lance managed everything thanks to Lotor, and even then I am sure he regrets Lotor remembering the past- a past best left forgotten. A past that seemed to make the blue paladin depressed.

-So we just have to sit back and watch him get attacked? Suffer? Hell, he even thinks he is dying! – it wasn’t a fair thing to ask from them but they really couldn’t do much, not if the blue paladin didn’t want the help.

-Right now? Yes. He needs friends, not people who want to treat him as if he were an alien or had a contagious disease. Up until now you haven’t cared about his feelings at all, so tell me, why should he feel like your intentions are pure now? A sudden change of heart? – and the guilty silence that followed gave him all his answers.

-It’s not sudden…- but his voice was so small and with so little confidence that not even Keith believed his own words.

-He thinks you all don’t care, so far I can see why, never visiting, contacting him or even the casual greeting. The guy is as human as any of you paladins of Voltron, still nobody cared about his mental health even knowing how fragile you humans are in that aspect. Humans are cruel creatures it seems. - and he couldn’t agree more. Humans could be their worst enemy. Humans killed humans, some even _liked_ wars.

Was that the reason they entered the Garrison? Because it was a military facility?

In Pidge’s case it was because she wanted answers, she didn’t believe her father and brother had died, and so, she went incognito into the Garrison. She was not a fan of war, at the beginning she even mentioned how she just wanted to find them, not fight an intergalactic war with no knowledge on how to fight, because up until then, she only knew what little the Garrison was able to teach her.

Hunk? He wanted to be an engineer, and he was awesome in his job. With Pidge, he created team Punk, creating many useful things that even during the war were very helpful. Same as Pidge, his forte wasn’t fighting at all., hell, he even got so nervous during fighting that from time to time he even threw up during missions.

If he thought about Shiro, he loved to fly, to discover things and help others. He knew his time was short, he was sick and even let Keith know about it, but he still wanted to be in space, it seemed he liked something in particular but couldn’t describe it. Again, he wasn’t one for war even if he was a great strategist.

And him? He loved the feeling of flying fast, the speed, the emotion he got whenever he left Earth. He always felt he wasn’t from Earth, he didn’t really make friends, always fighting, he had trouble getting along with others and he knew it. Now that he discovered he was half galra he could understand why he had that kind of problems.

But Lance? He had honestly no clue. He knew he wanted to be a fighter pilot, but got himself in the cargo pilot’s class instead. Was he the only one that wanted to be in fights? Or why had he decided on the fighter’s class instead of a safer one like the cargo one? He never asked, but seeing him during all the time they were in war, he wasn’t one for violence.

Could one really fight in a war without violence? Just capturing enemies and letting them get themselves in prison? They had done that to Lotor, but they knew the war was against a complete empire, thousands of enemies. The easiest route would be to just kill them, even Allura was up to killing them for destroying Altea, but again, Lance was not one for violence.

How many times had Lance used violence? Almost never, sure he got angry from time to time, exploded in some cases but nothing too serious. In fights he couldn’t remember if he even gave suggestions on how to attack, he could just remember once when he confronted him about them being a team, just after he had become the black paladin.

Was he really one to be in fights? He seemed more like a diplomat, considering the other’s feelings, helping them and caring. He never saw Lance as somebody wishing to fight, be a hero of some sort. Sure, he liked the idea of being known all across the universe, he loved that kind of attention but never if it was due to killing or hurting others.

He wanted to know why had Lance joined the Garrison, but he never asked. He knew Shiro was like his idol and model, but Shiro hated fights, he loathed them. Sure, if needed he could fight and be the best in fighting, but now? He doubted Shiro was his only reason. And if it was, then Lance must have loved Shiro deeply to enter a military facility just to be like his hero, to be acknowledged by him.

But sadly that didn’t happen, the one that Shiro recognized was him. It had always been him. He knew he was Shiro’s favorite, and he had been counting on that fact to declare his love, because if he was his favorite then even if he didn’t love him like he wanted, then he could at least lessen the blow of getting a rejection.

Still, the rejection hurt like a bitch and the one doing the consolation he expected from Shiro, was Lance. The same Lance that the black lion had refused to accept as black paladin, the same black lion that in reality was Shiro’s conscience.

And that must have hurt Lance more than anything after discovering why the black lion chose Keith instead. He always wondered why Lance wasn’t bitter towards him. He totally deserved it, since he always said how much he hated to be the black paladin even if the others would love to be it.

Which brought him back to the topic of why was Lance in a war? He didn’t seem the fighting type, or even a willing participant. The first time he saw him in the pod he could appreciate his features. He had a very nice and developed structure. One gotten due to training, sure he was thin, almost skinny and took a great pride in his skin due to all the facials and whatnot he did to be always in top form.

Was he that way because he trained hard even at the Garrison? Hunk always said how Lance and him got out at night just to eat hamburgers or even flirt. A diligent Lance was almost impossible to imagine. At what time would he train and practice? Hunk said they returned at the Garrison near midnight, falling asleep as soon as they touched the beds.

And if he had trained after arriving and making sure Hunk was asleep? Then the teen was very sleep deprived, which made sense. He used make-up to cover the eye bags, the skin routine was to hide his real condition. Probably being in space at first was relaxing for him, but after that? Probably it became a source of stress.

Kolivan seeing him in deep thought decided a little intervention on his part was all he needed to guide Keith towards the answer the sought.

-For him, you all suddenly caring, showing him how he is part of the team and noticing him in a _favorable light_ is strange. As if you _want_ something from him. I know, that is not the case, but he doesn’t know that. He is wary of that since he lacked the attention since day 1- and Keith felt bad since he had bonded with Hunk, Pidge and basically everyone thanks to Lance, and had he done the same when needed? No, he left him thinking he wasn’t needed.

-It is not something that can be easily solved. A simple “sorry” won’t cut it. Sorry isn’t even near the level of regret we all are feeling. Actions and words can be harmful, probably even more than wounds- he had never been able to deal with emotional hurt, as soon as he got a little hurt emotionally speaking he hurt with physical wounds.

But Lance was very understanding.

And he had understood it even before Keith, never answering back. Sure, they bickered a bit from time to time and even had a rivalry entirely on Lance’s part but he was still a precious friend.

The real question was how they were going to solve the problem and what to expect. After all the information they gathered, Lance had depression, how sever they couldn’t know since he was very good at hiding feelings and injuries in order to not worry them.

Sometimes he wanted to worry as he did for them.

-Why are you fighting in the war, Kolivan? – maybe the answer from the older galra could help him get an idea as to why Lance had been adopted by him.

-To get a safer place to live. Children deserve to live in a world free of war, in a better world without fearing to die day after day. I don’t like war, however, some sacrifices need to be done to have a better place to live. Thanks to these sacrifices you lived in a relatively safe place, right? Krolia’s sacrifice was enough to give you that- and he knew that was true. He lived at peace, there was no constant fear of dying.

Maybe Lance had a similar idea to Kolivan?

Maybe that was the reason the two of them bonded so fast? After all, Lance liked children, it didn’t sound so crazy.

-Lance might think the same. He likes kids- he remembered he talked about having a big family, which meant he had smaller kids around him as he grew up.

It was sad for Kolivan to see how little the team knew about Lance. For him the answer about Lance fighting a war was obvious, even for Lotor was. It was heartbreaking that the team knew next to nothing about the blue paladin.

No matter how private a person could be, at least some information could be disclosed. In theory they were a team but their bonding as a team was precarious at most. How they were able to form Voltron was a mystery to him with such little trust.

-I suggest you to talk to people close to him. Really close, with real bonds. Voltron’s bond was completely dependent of Lance, it was not mutual. Talk to his family, friends, teachers, there are things you are going to find out and won’t be nice but sometimes you need to learn the hard way- and he was willing to do it, it was the least he could do to help his friend.

The first person that crossed his mind was Coran, he was always near Lance, but Shiro had warned everybody about Coran so he kept looking for other viable candidate. Who could know more about Lance?

Hunk? No, he needed someone else. Someone not from team Voltron.

-I will talk to Iverson- which was not so great in his books but he needed help, and Iverson was always on Lance’s case, so he surely knew more than he let on. Hopefully he would help them.

-Good luck, paladin- and his heart broke a little since not once, since all this happened had Kolivan been affectionate with him, but he was with Lance.

-Thank you- and he left to video chat with Iverson.

-Iverson- the “Kogane” that answered back was simple yet to the point. The man was stoic as always.

-What can I help you with, kid? - because even in his eyes Keith was still a child, a kid that didn’t know better.

-You know Lance, right? Lance McClain? I need answers- and if Iverson was going to give them to him, then so be it.

-Yeah. Handful of a child, I swear he was going to turn my hair white- although he might recognize he had also been harsh on the child.

-What do you know about him? I need as much information as you can give me- and Iverson cursed. This was going to turn ugly pretty soon, he was glad this was just a video chat and not face to face or the young one would murder him.

-I know he has a sister in the Garrison, Veronica, sweet child but deathly. She is very strong and I know she personally trained Lance to “not be a weakling” and to put the safety of others first, as a good soldier should. She is a strong influence on him, she is the reason he entered the Garrison. Shame, he was nowhere near as good as her. He had the body to be better than her, but he preferred to flirt, skip classes and be a good for nothing. Often all the teachers and me included, would tell him how he only entered the fighter’s class due to your absence. I am not proud of my actions but that is the truth. - which makes sense to Keith since Lance always seemed to want to be better than him at everything and failing miserably. Veronica could be another person to talk to.

-You only said that to him? - it wasn’t enough for the taller teen to be so mad with him. Sure, he might be better than him at some things

-I might… have said it harsher than that. And not so tactful. I implied he was no good for the war. He was just too soft, always playing like a child, being childish. Why he even entered the Garrison was a mystery to me, he never told me the answer- and considering the circumstances, probably never will.

And now he understood why Lance was no fan of Iverson. The guy had been harsh with him, even cruel.

-Is Veronica over there? May I speak with her? - probably she could give better answers. He had already texted Shiro, asking him to talk to Lance’s family.

-Sure, Veronica, Keith wants to talk to you about your little brother- and as soon as he finished talking, Veronica was right in front of the monitor, serious face on.

-Keith, how can I help you? - she owed a lot to the paladins. Answering a few questions was next to nothing.

-It’s about Lance. I need answers- sadly he couldn’t find the answers alone.

-Has something happened to him? - she seemed slightly worried but her face was serious, if you didn’t know Lance, you would probably thing she was indifferent, but the way her eyebrows moved, was the same as Lance’s, and she was worried.

-Yes and no? How can I explain…? – he didn’t finish when Veronica interrupted him.

-From the start, and explaining what you need to know and why. Also explaining how can I help you would be nice. Now, explain- Keith felt like he was talking to a superior officer, which he probably was, since Voltron was not part of the military, if anything it would be considered an independent being.

-8 years ago, the blue lion that was on Earth took us to Altea…- and Veronica interrupted him pretty much the same way Lance did whenever something didn’t add up.

-Not since that kind of beginning! – but she still continued listening because somewhere, in all Keith said, made her think the origins might be right in front of them.

Listening how the team was with Lance, how many times Pidge called him stupid with Hunk supporting her even if he didn’t say it directly, all the verbal abuse, the emotional part must have been draining for him.

Hearing about his death made her eyes water, she wanted to cry. Since the Garrison announced the disappearance of Lance, he, along with Hunk and Pidge were considered dead. And the dead are never going to come back. Somehow, Allura managed to trick death, bringing his brother back.

Did that action have consequences? Surely yes. How must have his youngest brother felt when nobody acknowledged his death? He probably thought they would at least address it, but to leave it completely as unimportant was cruel.

-You know? We have a way to celebrate our dead. We call it “Día de los fieles difuntos”, or what you would consider dead’s day. For us, our dead are precious, on November 2nd we always talk about all the good things they did, why they are precious to us. To completely disregard his dead as unimportant is the same as killing him a second time, since for us the dead return once a year to be with us and they truly die when we forget about them. And you forgot about his dead- and now he felt worst. He knew Lance was from Cuba, surely things like language and traditions are going to be different. Just how different are they that could change his personality? How had he changed after being brought back to life?

Or even, how had he reacted after being put in a pod for the first time in his life? With nobody being there for him when he got out? They had been comparing seconds to ticks instead of celebrating he was about to get out of the pod.

_How had Lance not hated them since the beginning?_

_Because he cared. He always took care on how they all felt even if it wasn’t returned._

-We…No, I want to know more about him, about his home and about you guys. About why he is the way he is- and the soft look Veronica gave him, was all he needed to know that he had said the right thing.

-We are a big family, he is our baby brother. One would think that because of it he would be spoiled, right? But that is far from the truth. We are the ones spoiled by him. If I wanted to go to a concert and my father told me to go with one of my brothers for protection and none wanted to go, then Lance went with me and joked about the singer. One time he even danced to Shakira’s song while telling everybody that his hips were better at dancing! He wasn’t neglected even if there were so many of us, but he wasn’t the center of attention all the time. – and he could picture Lance, in the middle of the concert, dancing, singing, having fun while making the best memories with her older sister.

-He hates bullies. That’s the reason he befriended Hunk. Hunk had lots of bullies, and Lance wanted them to stop, so he asked me to train him- and the red paladin could figure just what kind of extreme training he had to undergo in order for him to stop the bullies in a week.

-He met Hunk even before the Garrison? – the sad smile he got in return was all he needed. Obviously it was when he had just entered the Garrison. A military facility, a place where emotions are not needed, a place you don’t need friends, you need a good team to have your back, because in a war, it is your most vulnerable place.

And Lance always had the team’s back.

Did they have his back? No. They had failed him.

-Has he always liked make-up and skin care routines? He is the first boy I see to do all that beauty crap- and the laugh that followed was nice to hear, her face shined and if one looks carefully she resembled Lance a lot when smiling. A true smile, that is.

-Oh, no. He learned beauty hacks thanks to all the sisters he has, including me. He is our make-up tester, he would tell us if the make-up last, how many hours, which combination was the best and how to use it in our favor. Of course testing so many products damaged his skin so of course he needed a complete ritual to get a beautiful face, I guess he simply stick to it even in space. After all, cleaning his face with water couldn’t be that hard in space- which he admitted made sense. So he wasn’t entirely up for the beauty to get girls, he did it due to his sisters’ influence and continued the ritual probably as a way to keep in contact to things that made him remember his sisters.

Just how much pressure they put on him asking him to stop the skin care routines? Just how much they tried to change him into the perfect paladin? How much they wanted to change him to fit in the team without acknowledging his strong points?

-He is very sensible, right? - and the nod made him cry a little.

-Sensible and observant. If he sees something he considers wrong, he will try to change it or at least make it a little bit better. Shay told me about the Balmera case, and how he asked to not hurt the planet, he was observant enough to know that the planet was alive, he wanted to make it better- and Keith admitted he did make it better with his suggestions.

-Does he hate us? – that was the answer he was afraid of hearing. Knowing all this, he in his place, would hate the team. He would never talk to them again.

-He probably wants to hate you. I do hate you, but he is so forgiving that it just can’t be human. Always seeing the best in people even if they don’t have anything to believe in them. He will probably be the one to reach out to you once he decides to trust in you again. If you try to suddenly make him trust in you, the plan would probably backfire. Why someone who didn’t care up until now care? Doesn’t seem logical- and he knew she was right. All their methods have failed, and she spoke clearly with him.

-Just a tip, after the war he changed. He is not so naïve anymore- Keith was expecting that, all of them changed and they never noticed until Hunk’s wedding, when they started talking about their feelings. Speaking to others helped them, but each one of them had a different coping mechanism, so they never bothered to ask how to help each other.

-I know, and probably the whole team knows that by now- it seemed like she wanted to ask something but was holding back, answering her would be the least he could do. –Ask me, it looks like you have something to ask. Ask and if I can give you the answer I will help- so she asked.

-What does Lance really mean to all of you? What did he mean for the princess? He even took her to our home even when she was the one that kept quiet about his death… Why? - honestly he had no answer about Allura. She spent a good portion of their interactions rejecting Lance, she always seemed fed up with his constant flirting. Hell, he had even rejected him as a team member even when he had been faithful to the cause, and it was thanks to Lance that she little by little accepted him.

-He was the blue paladin- he couldn’t say he was a valuable partner or friend after reflecting how they treated him. A valuable member would be cherished and he wasn’t. –He was Voltron’s pillar, the heart if you wish- because even when fighting he always made sure everybody was ok, even helping them cope when things became too much, but nobody had looked out for him.

-How can he be so forgiving? – he knew he wasn’t. The time somebody messed with him, he hit them until they asked for forgiveness. Lance in his place would probably try to be friends with them.

-No idea. He tries to be everybody’s friend even when they do not deserve it. Usually we are the ones to tell him who is worth to be a friend and who isn’t. He is against our judgment but has admitted it is almost 100% accurate. We are the ones usually picking him up but everything changed at the Garrison- he knew why, they had been kidnapped by a giant lion robot.

-People made fun of his accent, for forgetting words or even for speaking in Spanish. He didn’t enter the fighter’s class at the beginning because his English just sucked, he messed words and meanings. He got better with time, and having friends like Hunk, who also didn’t speak English as a first language. Learning with him was fun, so he did better and now, he sounds almost like a native. Of course he messes up and probably holds back since translating is hard for him. But having people to talk to made him get better, after the war he was just quiet. Even mom didn’t get much out of him, and even less when she found him cutting. – no wonder he was bitter towards him. He had gotten in at the Garrison even without doing much, he hadn’t been a genius like Pidge but had understood the basics, answering an exam was easy if you could understand the question and its answers.

Now that he heard that he tried to remember the times when Lance hold back saying something. Too many to count. How many of those times were because he didn’t know how to express himself? Probably too many. How many times had somebody of the team said that Lance was stupid or insulted his intelligence? More than he wanted to admit.

No wonder Veronica hated them.

Sure, they managed to work together and barely winning the war. She probably cooperated with them because her baby brother was with them, not because she felt the need to protect the rest of the team. If anything she sounded a little fond of Hunk, but after discovering how everybody treated Lance, he doubted she was willing to forgive and forget.

-Do you know if he is human? - he probably would have discovered long ago he was half galra if Krolia had stayed on Earth during his childhood. Maybe Lance didn’t know because he was inside a normal family?

-Yep, I was there when he was born, and unless mom had an affair with a sexy alien, then I can assure you he is 100% human- which made sense but it was strange. If he was human, why hadn’t his altean marks faded? After all, Lotor’s faded after a few hours of being exposed to quintessence, in a greater amount than Lance had been.

Was it a curse?

Maybe that was the reason he said he was dying? Could he feel it in his bones?

-Why? Do you think he isn’t? – the nod she got was all she needed. How could her baby brother be an alien if physically he looked like a human? Granted, Keith looked like a human too, but he was part galra. But if Lance was by any miracle alien, how did he manage to hide it?

-Probably? His marks should have disappeared after a few hours, like Lotor’s did when he entered the quintessence field with Allura. But if he were altean…- the possibility was that maybe in that case they wouldn’t disappear, maybe it was like a dormant characteristic.

-Or she thought it would be funny to torment my brother with those hideous marks, to the point of self-harming his face. The face he was so proud of taking care of! Sounds like envy to me. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against her but I wouldn’t accept her since she hurt my brother enough- and he understood, he had wanted to validate Lance’s feelings since he thought he wasn’t worthy enough.

-There is still the possibility of him not being human…- and he knew how bad it felt when people didn’t accept you for who you were. It would be his chance to mend his mistakes since Lance was the first one to accept him as half galra without even blinking, he just took it as a fact never questioning how or why.

-In my family we are all humans. Of course I know the existence of aliens is a fact, but surely even you have some characteristics that are from your galra side only- and now that he thought about it, he had fangs and his eyes could turn yellow if he gets very angry, controlling anger was also very difficult for him. Only Lance knew how to calm him.

-Well, yeah. My eyes can turn yellow if I get very angry and I have fangs. Probably my galra side is why it is so difficult for me to not react violently if provoked. I tend to use violence, which galra is characterized for- of course Veronica knew about that, Keith had been the infamous teenager that got expelled from the Garrison for “being a troublesome kid”. Still, the possibility of Lance being altean was getting lower little by little.

-So far, he didn’t have any characteristics from altean people. No pointy ears, no marks, no transformation ability. He was a normal human until Allura messed up his face. His marks make him look sick, as if they aren’t part of his body- and sincerely he agreed. Last time he saw Lance, he looked paler and sicker than ever. The marks just made it more obvious.

-Thank you for your help Veronica, it means a lot to me- she didn’t answer back, just sighed and cut communication, a single “bye” was all Keith heard. It didn’t go as bad as he had guessed it would go.

Shiro didn’t get much information either. Lance’s mom was sure his son was a normal human being, which made sense since he looked like a normal human before Allura gave him the marks. For her, her son was perfect, which he admitted probably the guy was.

After all, what kind of normal human helps a friend that has been an asshole to them? They treated him like garbage and still he wanted him to make up with Keith, as if he was sure that was all he needed.

He was sure that Lance did it for a reason, he just couldn’t find the reason. He seemed to hate Keith’s gut, he saw him as a superior officer after seeing his leader be so biased towards Keith and still never telling him off for that.

Talking with Cassandra, or Cassy as she asked him to call her, made him realize that Lance was the same as his mom. Caring, calm, composed… why had he been adamant about him being the black paladin? He would have made a perfect choice now that he thought about it, at least he had wanted that post more than Keith.

So far he knew Lance was 100% human. And if anything, that he a very pure human at that. His mother told him about how speaking Spanish complicated everything for him, but he had admired Shiro since he spoke Japanese and still got an excellent post at the Garrison.

_He had been Lance’s goal._

_And he shattered his image by disregarding him._

_Lance was truly nobody’s first choice._

And that must have hurt him. Never the first choice, Allura preferred Lotor, he preferred Keith, Pidge preferred Hunk, and Coran preferred Allura. They must have looked like fools from his family’s point of view.

He thanked Cassy and went to speak with Keith.

-I am almost sure he is 100% human- but Keith was still doubtful. He still wondered about his marks, a typical altean characteristic.

-But his marks…- he wanted answers, no, he needed them. After entering in contact with quintessence his hand had turned a light purple, sign of his heritage, so maybe Lance’s marks were some kind of similar phenomenon.

-His marks were given by Allura, as a sign of love- he didn’t want to discuss with him. They may not agree with things, but fighting right now wasn’t going to solve anything.

Keith wasn’t so sure anymore. If Lance knew he was altean and was hiding that fact, then he was a master of hiding information. Or was he truly ignorant of the fact? Because if he honestly had no idea, then wasn’t he curious about the marks? About why they didn’t fade over time?

Shiro instead talked to him about how they had acted towards Lance in the past, and how there are things he couldn’t understand.

-Even if we were terrible to him, he tried to make us talk again. Either he is a saint or he did it for a reason- and he was thinking that maybe, he did it thinking he was going to die protecting the babies.

-He always does things with a reason. So, probably he had a plan. A plan that must be ruined now that we all are trying to help him. He is depressed, he looks sick, and I am almost sure it is because he isn’t entirely human- Shiro didn’t argue with that logic. Because yes, he also thought it was strange for Lance to help them when he had no reason to do it.

-You have a lot of faith in him- his soft smile was mirrored with Keith’s own, as if both were sharing a secret.

-I do. I believe that he will have my back, always- and up until now he hadn’t failed, and he was sure he will never fail.

-Yeah, seems like something he will do- because since day 1, he had covered everyone’s back, even taking a bomb to save Coran, who at that moment was almost a complete stranger. If he was willing to do that, then he was able to do everything.

Pidge interrupted their chat, so they just added her and Hunk to the video call.

-We need a medical test on him, I am on Keith’s side for once- Hunk was strangely silent, he still couldn’t believe his best friend could be an alien. Sure he even flirted with aliens, female ones and a couple of male ones, but still, he was a complete casanova, it was to be expected.

-Would he accept? - And the small question Hunk made, made everyone sigh and look down. No, Lance probably would not accept, if anything, he would be completely against it.

-We need him to accept. Otherwise, we won’t get answers. Right now we only have questions, not a single solution, and whoever attacked him won’t stop until they win. And for once, I will fight to protect him- he had always protected her, now it was her turn to help him, to protect him in the only way she knew. With technology.

-Sven might be able to help us- Shiro wasn’t so sure. He was like a complete clone of him but they had little to no information about him, so he was wary of him, same as the rest it seemed. Only Keith seemed to think it was a good idea to trust Sven, even proposing that ridiculous idea.

-Why should he help us? – Pidge cursed, she hadn’t thought of the possibility of Sven not cooperating with them, hell, she didn’t even include him since in her opinion, he was not to be trusted. Why did Lance trust him so much was beyond her, there was no logical explanation.

But many things didn’t made sense. Lance always trusted blindly, even getting himself in trouble like that time with Nyma, but he still believed in the good faith of people.

-Doesn’t matter, we will get him to agree, even if it is by force- an angry Pidge was not one to mess with, and although Keith wasn’t up to use violence, she agreed with her, they needed Sven’s cooperation even if Hunk and Shiro were against it.

-Count me in- Hunk joined Pidge and Keith, still a bit unsure if that was the correct method, but he was willing to try. Shiro resigned himself and joined the quest, taking again the role of the Space Dad, since he was fairly sure that if he let them do as they pleased, they would cause trouble.

-Ok, I will help although I am still against this idea- a cheer followed, now they had a plan, a solid one and hoped it would be enough.

-Let’s contact Sven- everybody looked at the different members of team Voltron. Who was going to do it? They played rock-paper-scissors to decide.

The chosen one had been Shiro.

-Good afternoon Sven. I am calling in representation of Team Voltron, sans Lance of course, to ask for your cooperation- Sven had been listening attentively.

-What kind of cooperation? – Everybody sighed in relief, maybe this was start of mending a friendship that needed something more than time and space.


	4. THE CONDITION

-Cooperation to help Lance- that caught Sven’s attention. Now they wanted to help him? Why? Were they plotting something?

-How? - he really wanted to ask why but he felt that if he did, then the others won’t accept him as readily as they were right now. Keith looked ready to do anything if it meant helping Lance, even not killing him just yet.

-We believe that his problem is genetic. We need to examine him, but obviously he is going to reject our offer, and I get why, but we truly want to help him. As friends we failed him in numerous occasions, we want to fix it- what Pidge said made sense to him, and he agreed that Lance needed to get a complete diagnosis.

-It won’t be easy- and they knew it, but they were willing to help his friend. If it meant supporting Sven, who probably wasn’t an ally, then so be it.

-Do you have a plan? – no, he didn’t. He was just going to ask Lance to accept being examined by him or Pidge, since she had replicated the technology of the cryopods just for this.

-Not really, just asking him nicely? – Keith was losing patience. That was the best plan? Really? For all he knew, Lance was going to reject their offer, even if it was a suggestion given by Sven.

-I don’t think it is going to work- pessimistic as always, but he preferred to think on the worst case scenario, so if Lance did accept then everything would be going just fine.

-We should at least try- Hunk always tried to look for the best solution, if he thought it was the best and was supported by Pidge, then little could Keith do.

-So Sven, can we count with you? – the nod and military stance that the other had was like seeing two Shiros. Honestly, the man was like a clone of a younger Shiro.

-Count me in, I will try to convince him- it was the least he could do, although he was sure that convincing Lance was going to be a complete challenge.

-Thank you- getting those words from Keith surprised everyone, especially Sven.

-Don’t thank me yet. I still have to convince him- but everyone was sure he was going to make it happen.

The communication got cut, and Team Voltron was left thinking just how was Sven going to convince Lance to get an examination, it wasn’t going to be easy, even for him.

-Do you think he will convince him? - Hunk’s question made everyone think of an answer.

-Probably- Pidge had more faith in him than any of them. So far, Lance’s has showed certain degree of familiarity with the medic so it was possible that he would accept the exam, maybe not right away, but it wouldn’t be a complete rejection.

-Why does he trust a complete stranger? I mean, for all we know he might be Shiro’s clone or a Shiro from another universe- he was getting frustrated, nobody seemed to agree with him.

-Because he was being nice- the most logical answer and yet everyone felt guilty about that comment in particular, since it meant they weren’t exactly the best of friends to him.

Sven had accepted the task, which he now found problematic. The guy didn’t want to be even near a hospital, much less around doctors and needles. How was he going to get him to agree, was a mystery to him.

An idea crossed his mind.

-Lance, would you mind if I do the examination? – the seconds passed and he wasn’t getting an answer. –I will understand if you decide you are against it- he said quickly, fearing he had upset his friend.

-Yes, I do mind. I know the team and you have my best interest at heart, but I still hate it. It is as if I can’t do a single thing- he said frustrated.

-I know, but if anything happens to you I believe they are going to be the first ones to kill somebody- namely him, since they had even requested his help.

-You? – he had meant it as a joke, but he knew the team and the possibility of them thinking something happened because of Sven was very high. –Ok, I will agree but with a few conditions- he said with a sad smile.

-Sure, which ones? – he felt motivated to do the best.

-Only you will know the results, well, and obviously me. Nobody else – seemed reasonable enough so he could let it pass. The other conditions were getting his curiosity up.

-And the other one? – hoping it was only one more.

-Whatever the result, let’s keep acting as if nothing is wrong- that was going to be a little more difficult but made sense with the first request so he didn’t object. He probably was doing this in order to not letting Allura and Lotor know his real condition.

-Ok, I give you my word- he said giving his pinky to Lance, who happily shook it. It was a promise.

-Is it going to hurt? – the question sounded innocent enough that made Sven laugh.

-You have gotten lots of injuries, recently you got shot. I assure you a little needle won’t hurt as much- he said jokingly.

-Oh, right, of course you are right- he felt kind of stupid since he knew the doctor was right, still he felt kind of bad for asking the obvious. He could remember all the times Coran, Hunk and the rest told him phrases along the lines of “Lance, that is a little obvious. Just think more” and similar phrases that questioned his intelligence. Probably he was indeed a little bit dumb if even Sven made such comments.

-Lance, that’s not how I meant it and you know it. Your fear is making you think the worst of the people near you- he said in a soft voice. Getting the younger one to calm and think rationally was going to be difficult.

-I know, but I can’t stop feeling bad. I mean, what you said was logical, so yeah, I obviously feel bad for asking something that in theory I should know – getting laughed constantly, made fun of his intelligence made him remember that intelligence was Pidge’s forte, not his.

-Still, feelings are important- Sven tried to assure the paladin that his feelings were important too. Maybe they had done it unconsciously but they had hurt deeply his friend and now getting him on his own would be a challenge.

-Thank you. Then, go ahead- he said while preparing himself to be pinched with a needle to obtain blood. Fortunately, Sven was very good and he barely felt the needle enter.

-It will take a couple of days to examine the blood- he said while doing other kind of test. So far, his body had the normal endurance of a human body trained at a military facility, nothing out of the ordinary.

-As far as I know, my mother and father are human so, I’m sure I’m human too- he said while covering his arm, after all genetically speaking, he was sure he was human. No pointy ears or funny skin color so far.

-Still, the marks should have disappeared and they didn’t. Don’t you think it is strange? – the nod he got was all the answer he needed. Even for Lance it was strange to still have the marks.

-Maybe it is as Coran said, a parting gift. Something more durable? – he wasn’t so sure anymore. If the source of the marks died, shouldn’t the marks stayed but in the form of scars? Or even completely disappear?

Slowly doubt was starting to settle in his mind. Magic was scary, he was starting to get scared of Allura’s powers. Had he even done the right thing by not letting her learn from Coran about her magic? Sure, the older altean didn’t have magic to teach her with examples, but he could guide her, right?

-I will need Lotor’s and Allura’s blood sample too. Lotor is half altean, so that can be a good reference and Allura is fully altean, another good example- Lance wasn’t so sure about it, but he had accepted his help and he was going to do it with all he got.

-They might not like needles- he warned him, and with that Sven managed to get the samples after fighting Allura, since she got frightened by the way the needle took her and Lotor’s blood. Lotor had to calm her down, which was a miracle by itself since she was so adamant about getting another needle near her.

Which in Lotor’s mind made sense since altean technology made possible to know what was needed without primitive methods such as a needle. It was kind of funny to see two adult men trying to hold Allura, who made herself almost as tall as them and was fighting with everything she got.

Sven explained why he took the blood and both understood, maybe not on the same level of understanding but they had agreed and finally he was going to get some answers.

The physical examination was easier and faster since Pidge had sent a prototype of a cryopod. Surely, it showed big and small wounds, same as scars and how had the person got them. The results were amazing in Sven’s eyes.

Judging by the wound on the back, the boy should be dead. He had a big scar across his back, the pod had healed it, but a scar still reminded. He remembered Keith talking about an explosion and he guessed that was the reason of the scar.

The result also showed multiple lacerations all over his body, from small to bigger ones. The big ones he guessed were from battles where he hadn’t been so lucky, but the small and discreet ones were the ones that caught his attention.

Small cuts, in very particular spots, none of them visible at first glance. He was guessing it was self-harm, and if his theory was true, then the team had some explaining to do. He was not going to let Lance return to them if his theory was right.

-Whatever you are thinking, is probably correct. The team grew apart easily after I arrived. He was always alone, and so alone he was, that he started talking to a prisoner since his friends always refused. He knew I was no ally of them, and still talked with me in order to not feel alone- he spoke freely since Allura had gone to sleep, changing sizes had tired her out and was out like a light.

That simple confession hurt a lot to both parts.

Sven couldn’t even imagine the level of hurt that Lance was carrying, and Lotor could now understand why the blue paladin reached out for him, why he wanted to believe in him even if everybody knew the truth.

That level of betrayal and hurt had managed to hurt him physically, not by accident but by his own hand. And that hurt the most, since nobody knew or even guessed, of that Lotor was sure, otherwise the fight between Voltron and him would have ended differently.

When he got out of the pod and saw the look Sven was giving him he sighed.

-The one on the back was from when Sendak and his team tried to blow up the castle, I saved Coran- and almost ended killed was left unsaid. How he had managed to get up and shot Sendak to save the day, he had honestly no idea, that probably was his most badass moment.

-And the other small ones… Let’s just say that I get easily hurt- which was a big understatement. He could get easily hurt in a war, that much is true. But what kind of idiot would believe the marks were mere accidents? Lance’s friends it seemed to be.

-I highly doubt it- and Lotor was on this one with Sven, and even Lance knew that.

-Fine. It was no accident. I felt alone, utterly betrayed and I wanted a way out, but as soon as I saw the blood I knew I couldn’t do it. A little cut hurt a lot and trying to cover the blood marks was a mess to deal with, so small wounds that stopped bleeding almost instantly was a nice way out- he explained.

-Your accident was having friends- he heard Lotor tell him with a tone of voice that told him how much he was against him returning to team Voltron. That cold tone scared Lance, since Lotor had been distant, yes, but never cruel in his tone of voice. He felt almost reprimanded by him! By his own son!

-Probably you are right, maybe I just needed to find better friends- Sven saw the guilty face of Lotor but let Lance continue. –I just thought I was important to them too; guess I was always the seventh wheel- Lotor knew firsthand how many doubts Lance had about himself, how he always called himself the seventh wheel, the replacement, how he wanted the team to find a real paladin instead of him and his pathetic excuse of paladin. Lance had confided in him so many times, and he just thought the younger one was just being dramatic, as the team told him he was.

If one didn’t know the paladin, then yes, he may look as if he exaggerated a lot. After getting to know him, he didn’t exaggerate. He was being painfully honest with his opinions, and even the jokes about dying probably weren’t meant as jokes.

How much had he suffered inside a team that blamed him for everything? How many times did he defend himself? None that he could remember. How many times had someone defended him? Not even one. And that must hurt, because he knew Lance defended them even if they were in the wrong. Like when Sam Holt was used as a way to get him. Lance was against letting Lotor go, he knew it was a trap, and nobody listened to him, because for the team Pidge’s happiness and the life of Sam Holt was more precious than a fellow paladin.

Sven decided to interrupt when he saw Lotor look deep in thinking and kind of depressed. As to why, he had no idea, but he guessed it was from his time as Voltron’s prisoner.

-Well, we know part of the reason of your injuries. Had they healed this fast? As with the shot you got barely a few days ago and now you have nothing but a small scar? – he asked and saw him thinking really deep.

-Not always. At the Garrison I always got hurt at the simulations, and the injuries remained for days. At space, they healed faster thanks to the cryopods, there was even a time I got inside a pod without injuries and the pod wouldn’t let me out. The castle was trying to kill us, I swear. After the war and Allura’s dead…- he tried to remember. He saw Allura and all he could remember was how she kissed him and gave him the marks.

-After the war…? – Sven and Lotor were getting curious.

-I know I got hurt, how badly I don’t know. I know I had bandages around my head, arms and legs, but saw nothing. I kept the bandages on to keep appearances since surely I must have been missed something, but nobody told me anything. Everybody was with their families. – and so he had lied to everyone, even his own family.

Lotor knew about how quintessence could heal injuries. Had Allura unconsciously transferred quintessence just to heal him? Failed and gave him also permanent marks? It was probable, she was nowhere near the level of understanding as Honerva did. Maybe she had inadvertently cursed him.

But tell them that would put her in a difficult spot. If Sven managed to find another reason, then he would feel better.

Sven was trying to think of why he had healed so fast. Humans weren’t able to do it so fast, and even cryopods had a long time to heal injuries, even up to a week. Lance was watching how the two looked deep in thinking.

-Chill out guys, it’s ok. I’m used to nobody caring about me, nobody really does. Not even me. - and they knew how true that statement was since he always was in harm’s way, saving someone. He truly acted as a warrior. At the Garrison they taught the importance to save civilians, so probably that was deep in his mind, a lesson that probably Pidge and the others didn’t have time to assimilate.

-We do care about you, even the team that hurt you so much, otherwise why would Pidge and the rest help us with the technology to see what is wrong with you? - Lance knew Sven was right but his mind was the problem.

-Guilt. They know they had been horrible, they know one day I will be dead and they would regret not being there for me. And probably they are guessing it is going to be soon, with some galras out for blood, specially their blood and mine. Probabilities for me to survive are close to none. I’m not a great fighter as Keith or Shiro, nor as intelligent as Pidge or as able to create machines as Hunk, so, that’s the logical explanation. - he said with a sad smile. He knew they considered him a burden, they hated him for sure.

-You truly are a quiznaking idiot. They do care. How many times do they have to tell you that? - Lotor couldn’t comprehend Lance’s emotions. Friends? He didn’t have when growing up, never did up until now. How deeply was he hurt was a mystery to him.

-Maybe enough times so I can start to _believe_ those words- Sven had to stop them before they interrupted Allura’s sleep or said things they would both regret, although it seemed like Lotor was already regretting his choice of words.

-Is it really so hard to believe? – the murmur of a question was only heard by Sven, in which he agreed that indeed, it wasn’t that hard to believe but Lance wasn’t seeing what everyone could see. How could he explain that feeling to someone that never had it in the first place?

-I think it is enough for now, we should stop before waking Allura up- he said without motivation, he sounded dead tired. After carefully picking Allura up and letting her rest on the bed, he put to sleep Lotor and said his goodbyes to Sven.

Now, alone in his room, he could hear the voices again. Even Lotor had called him an idiot and he could understand why. Everybody was trying hard for his sake and still he had the gal of ruining it, even if it wasn’t on purpose.

Laying down he tried to focus on the positive things he had done, but so far only his mistakes came to his mind. He felt horrible for thinking so bad of his friends and teammates but they were acting very suspiciously after trying to be nice to him, seemingly out of nowhere.

Still, he knew his words were right. The team was probably feeling guilty and probably tried to make it better, but the damage was done. He also knew Lotor was right, and it hurt because even when the logical part of his brain understood what he told him, his heart didn’t want to believe it.

Being called names.

Being ignored.

Hurtful comments even if they weren’t meant to be hurtful.

He remembered them all.

He couldn’t wait to know the results of this tests. He was sure he was human, but so had Keith been, and he ended being part Galra. Could it be possible to have such a big secret even in a family as big as his? Probably not.

Whatever the result, he was going to keep it from the team and children. Nobody needed that weight. He still remembered how everyone reacted to a half galra Keith, and he didn’t want the same reaction. He accepted Keith because he was a friend, human or alien, was a precious friend he could talk to and even argue in some occasions.

But if the roles were reversed…Would he do the same?

Probably not. He had difficulties keeping friends, so he probably would say something to trigger him, maybe unintentionally but he would still make that mistake.

Or probably he would keep being his friend since he had already experienced the same reaction from everybody.

He was no mind-reader to know how he would react. Not even how Hunk, his closest friend, would react.

A complete week was going to be torture.

He didn’t sleep a lot, he actually ate less, had trouble sleeping, and Sven told him that was probably just his high levels of stress talking. He tried to be relaxed but after arguing with Lotor, there was a significant tension between them.

-What did you two argue for? – the question took Lotor and Lance by surprise, Sven had been expecting that question from Allura. She usually didn’t interrupt or tried to look for answers, however the situation seemed to be getting to her and now she demanded answers from both.

-Nothing – Lance quickly said, while she just raised her eyebrow in a clear gesture of not believing a single word he had just said.

-He thinks people don’t care about him or just do it for their own pleasure, not because they truly care – explained Lotor in a simple way so she could understand, and it seemed to work, she was deep in thinking.

-But we do care, team Voltron, you, Sven and I, everyone cares. Even granny Krolia and grandpa Kolivan. We care because we are family, and family should care about each other- and Lance couldn’t argue with her logic. He had taught her that, to argue would be like telling her he was lying, and he didn’t want that.

-I tried telling him that, but he still didn’t believe me. Seems like he needs something more to truly believe those words- and Allura was deep in her thoughts.

-Like what? Actions speak louder than words, and I believe everybody’s actions are well meant, they might have acted like bad friends, but they are trying to mend it. Isn’t that enough? It is a start, of course they might not be able to mend it on the first try, but they will keep trying until they do fix it. – Lotor and Sven were watching Lance, he was trying not to cry since he knew Allura was right. Keith and the others were going to keep trying until he accepted their help and friendship again.

-You, Sven, I, and probably all of the universe knows that, however some people are unable to accept that fact, our father being one of the few who can’t accept it- he said while thinking about it.

-Why? – and that was a question Lance had no answer for. He knew Lotor and Allura were right, but his mind was against it. Why? He didn’t know. Instinct? His gut? Something wasn’t right for him, and he didn’t know what was it or how to explain it to her.

-Because he can’t trust us, or his friends or family. If he did he would accept their help, right? – and Lance wanted to hit Lotor for telling the obvious to Allura, who seemed ready to agree with him.

-Obviously, dummy. But dad knows the truth, right? He believes in us, right? – and Lance only could nod. He believed, at least a part of him, but the other part was the problem.

-Not entirely. But I guess he is trying- the look the small one gave Lance as if telling him a “I dare you to contradict me” was enough for him to shut up.

-That’s good, because we will be helping him during all those test he is doing- Allura’s motivation was contagious, so everyone decided to give Lance a chance to trust again.

The first days were complicated because nobody knew how to act or what to expect. Of course Lotor told them how badly Lance reacted to being called an idiot, and while they understood that he wasn’t doing it on purpose, they now knew that even light jokes insulting his intelligence were probably not welcomed by him right now.

After almost a week and just 2 days to know all the results, Sven found something interesting. His DNA was not normal. He was by now fairly sure that Lance was not completely human. Shay and the others were still getting information about the marks.

No living altean had tried to transfer the marks, most couldn’t even use quintessence, to get information was going to be tricky. Maybe visiting again Oriande could give them an answer but the first travel was hard enough, and Lance probably wouldn’t survive another trip.

Lotor also didn’t want to risk visiting Oriande and destroying his new life. It was due to the quintessence power that he lived again. If Allura and him went there, the probabilities of ruining their lives was high. He expected Lance to know that, but he still reminded him of the fact that they shouldn’t really be alive.

Pidge studied the results along with Sven and she found something pretty interesting. She knew Lance was human, at least to enter the Garrison nothing seemed out of order. Keith was lucky, he got expelled before a physical exam could be done or else someone would have detected his alien blood.

-Lance, you aren’t human- and at that the whole room kept an uncomfortable silence. The first one to break the ice was surprisingly Keith.

-Well, he always seemed out of this world- and Shiro laughed telling him that it sounded like a very bad pick up line, causing everyone to laugh, and a light blush on Lance’s face. Keith had tried to be friendly, but instead he let his feelings roam free, which ended turning his face as red as a tomato.

-Why, thank you! I always knew I was out of this world. Glad to see you admit it too- which only mortified Keith more. Teasing him was fun and Lance was glad to be able to do it without fearing the reaction he would get from the other.

-That’s not what I meant! – and Lance knew it but it was fun teasing him, beside everyone else was happy to see the exchange between them, so he was going to keep the light teasing, knowing when to stop if needed.

-You don’t find me totally out of this world? – the suggestive tone he used turned red the faces of the older ones, even of small Lotor, the only one laughing was Allura since she finds funny her father’s way of seducing.

-Yes! No! I mean… I guess so? – and at that moment he decided to shut up, since the smaller ones were present.

-Awwww Keithy finds me sexy!!!- Allura continued that joke by saying that Lance was indeed sexy. Lotor seemed ready to kill him and all were waiting to see the reaction he would get.

-If he is so sexy, then why is he single? – it was Lotor the one that managed to blurt out the question. He knew Lance loved the princess, so obviously he wasn’t going to get a partner soon. He knew he had crossed another line when the silence started getting uncomfortable.

-Because he is looking for the right mommy for us! It needs to be someone special, as special as us! And of course, needs to care about him too! That is hard to find if you are into hiding! - Allura explained as if it were easy. Lotor guessed that made sense even if it wasn’t the real reason.

-A mom…- And everyone seemed to think the same Lotor said. Lotor didn’t have the best mother, to suddenly find him one was not going to sit well with him, it had taken years for him to open to the paladin.

-Yes! Or another father if he prefers boys! I’m ok with both! – Lotor tried hard not to think about Honerva and Zarkon but it was hard. If Lance did indeed get a partner, then he would have a stepmother o stepfather and probably his life would be very similar to before.

-So? Which do you prefer Lance? – it was Coran asking, genuine curiosity in his voice.

-I don’t have a preference. I just need to like them, you know? As a person? That is why I flirted left and right and even with boys and girls- that was new information that made Shiro and Keith smile. He had trusted the team with such a big information.

-Pidge, but what do you mean he is not human? – Hunk was curious about that part. He sincerely thought all the members of Lance’s family were human, Lance included. To suddenly have that bomb thrown at them was surprising.

-He is not entirely human. According to the test, he is part altean. I have yet to guess if it was due to Allura giving him the marks or another reason. But it is a fact that he is not human- Lance couldn’t believe his ears. Had Allura turned him part altean in order to keep her race? To maybe have children in her name?

-Part altean, me? – he couldn’t believe his ears. Were his ears suddenly going to turn pointy? Was his only change the marks on his face? Or was he changed genetically too? Terror must have been on his face since Pidge kept talking.

-Yeah, part altean. Your DNA is not human. Probably when you got the marks also your DNA was changed. I am just guessing but Allura didn’t have a lot of quintessence to give you, so probably before she transferred the quintessence you already were part altean. Let’s say 10% altean? It was a small percent since you didn’t show obvious altean traits- which in Lance opinion made sense. If he wasn’t human since the beginning, then that would explain how fast he bonded with Blue, when not even Keith had managed to do it even if he was the one to find it first.

-But wouldn’t the pods have detected that? I mean, he entered the pods a few times, in the clinical record surely he would have displayed being part altean and the consequences of taking certain medicines- Shiro tried to reason.

-In reality, the pods _adapt_ to the kind of living being that enters. They give the medicine according to their biology. Of course it can tell you what species is the one being entered but otherwise it doesn’t necessarily tell you if it is human, altean, olkari or any other species. That’s why the pod just healed the wound but didn’t tell us he wasn’t 100% human. – explained Coran, which made sense to Pidge since even Keith had been in the pods at least once, and didn’t show he was half galra, everybody had done the same.

-Again Pidge, I don’t follow. How could he be part altean if all his family is human? I met them and I assure you nobody has pointy ears or can do magic with quintessence- that was the part that Pidge hadn’t managed to understand. There must be a reason as to why obvious traits changed.

-I have yet to find it, one theory could be that since alteans can change their appearance they hid their pointy ears when meeting you- Hunk understood that part, he had seen Allura change sizes, colors, hiding pointy ears seemed possible. But Pidge had said that was only one theory, did she have more? The possibilities were probably endless.

-Maybe he crashed when he was a baby and adapted his body to what he saw? Kind of like Superman? – At this point everyone laughed.

-I assure you I have no superhuman strength. I am a normal human, maybe not so normal since I’m part altean but you get the idea- he said with a content smile, Sven and the others were happy to see the real smile.

-Yeah Keith, that is a little farfetched even for you. I think there is probably a really good reason why he didn’t know he was altean, or at least part altean- everyone nodded and tried to get ideas, the craziest one being Keith’s who told everyone how his mother had crashed and had him on Earth.

-It is possible! We are almost the same age! – Lance smiled tenderly. Keith seemed so sure of that possibility that he had started to want it to be true.

-Keith, you literally have fangs, your eyes turn yellow if mad… that isn’t very human-like. Maybe even you being Mr. Grumpypants can be due to your genes. I mean, galra are known for fighting and you fighting force is stronger than any of us- Lance tried to explain why his theory probably wasn’t viable. –And I assure you, I am no Clark Kent, I have no superpowers and I am no superhero as he is- he said with a little sad tone.

-I still think you might be Superman- Pidge heard his mutter and snickered, Shiro sent a look her way and she kept quiet. Shiro was sure she was plotting something, and maybe he wouldn’t stop her just to see where it ended.

-Well, we can think of how Lance ended being part altean since the beginning later. The fact that he thought he was a normal human means either it was a secret since he was born, or… nobody knew the truth. Also it would explain why or how he bonded so fast with Blue. The lions probably reacted to his blood. Red accepted him easily, contrary to what happened with Keith- explained Coran, while everyone knew that was true, Keith had to almost die for the red lion to accept him, while Lance just had to get near. The difference was evident.

-Coran, I truly want to know how or why I am part altean. Not knowing part of me is scary- and they understood. Everybody wanted to help, even Krolia and Kolivan had tried to get to the root of how the boy became half alien in the first place without thinking it was due to Allura changing him.

-I know young one, and I will try my hardest to give you a satisfactory answer. For now, we need to monitor you. I don’t have files of half alteans and half humans, the only samples near that would be little Lotor and Keith’s sample but you aren’t part galra, so I would like to know the differences between a normal human. Although I would like to think you are pretty much 80% human and thus, your readings shouldn’t be so far away from the rest of the team- Lance understood, but when they discovered Keith was half galra they never did anything of the sort. He felt he was being given special treatment.

And he probably was.

-I will help him- he felt better if Pidge told him what was normal for humans. He truly wanted to believe in them as Lotor and Allura wanted, but he felt still unsure.

-Lance, why don’t we walk a little? I’m sure Lotor and Allura will be providing more information to Coran and Pidge, Shiro and Keith can be on guard duty so nobody comes near- and he agreed because he felt near a cliff. Everybody tried to solve the puzzle he was, when not even him knew the answer.

-Thank you Sven. It became too much too soon. How can it be possible that I am not human? Well, I am but not a normal human? Even Keith being part galra has better fighting skills, better sense of how to fight. Me? I don’t have a special quality- he felt ready to cry if given the opportunity, Sven’s hand on his shoulder was all he needed to hide his face and let himself cry.

-But you do have altean qualities- seeing his confused expression he continued. –Alteans are known for being great diplomats, not fighters. That can be why you prepare the best strategy if given the opportunity even if in a real battle you aren’t very strong. You are a great diplomat, you know how to speak to others and make them do what you want, in a different way than the princess did. You are subtler, she was more direct. – he explained, and Lance seemed to put the pieces together.

-The marks didn’t disappear because they should have been there since the start- nobody in his family had them, and the marks were easy to hide. Altea was destroyed 10,000 years ago, enough time to travel to Earth, reproduce and lose part of the genetic they had until his generation, leaving him with very little DNA of the original alteans.

-Excuse me? – Sven didn’t follow why Lance thought they should be there from the start.

-Let’s suppose some alteans weren’t on Altea when it was destroyed. One of them probably ended on Earth. 10,000 years ago our technology wasn’t that advanced, nobody knew about aliens, plus alteans can change their appearance, so they can adapt. If one survived, adapted his or her body… 10,000 years is enough time to create mutations in humans. Part of the DNA that should be 50% altean, was reduced to 10% or even less. I am probably a descendant from an altean that managed to escape- he explained. That made sense, Sven agreed.

-But Altea is far from Earth- Sven tried to think of it logically. Lance’s idea was a good one but the factor of distance was another thing that needed explaining.

-Some alteans can open wormholes, mostly royalty, like Allura, right? What if a royal opened a portal so far away that ended near Earth? – and that was probable. It made sense, since Lance was able to open a portal when he first met Blue.

-That… can be a little exaggeration but not impossible- he admitted it made sense. Or they were very eager to get answers and he was willing to accept any logical explanation.

-That would have been a shock for Allura, since her first comment was about my hideous ears. Imagine if I had known I was part altean and told her that? She would have probably had a fit- he said laughing, Sven was glad to see him so happy, even if it was just momentarily.

-But wasn’t Allura the only known royal to escape? - he got curious, probably Coran knew more about that, but if Lance knew something then maybe they could get answers quicker.

-In theory, yes. But maybe Coran knows something that Allura doesn’t? –it was even possible for Coran to not know something, and that was a possibility that should be taken into consideration, but Sven was still not convinced.

-Maybe you should talk with Coran – it was a talk that needed to be done, after all, he left with the princess and Lotor without even saying anything to him. Wounds needed to heal, and not all wounds were physical ones.

-Will do! I believe I owe it to him. And maybe, we can be as close as we were before. You know? He was the only one who didn’t doubt my intelligence. – Sven knew Lance was hiding something, like omitting information. What kind of information was missing was a mystery to him although he guessed it had something to do as to why he fled New Altea in such a hurry.

-Then should I call him to come over? – the timid nod he got as a response made him smile, and since he was willing to talk to somebody else he tried to contact and made Coran come as quickly as he could, which thanks to Keith was very fast.

Lance was very nervous during the hour he had to wait for Coran. Was the older man mad at him? He wasn’t the best about how everything turned out after all. Was he doing this only to get close to Allura once again? He felt awful about doubting the older altean but remembering his comments before he left, was there really any other choice?

After an hour of deciding how to aboard the subject, he decided to try to act natural. The older altean was like an uncle to him so it couldn’t be so hard.

-Hi Coran – maybe he lacked the usual enthusiasm but he was still wary of him and the others, since he could see Keith, Pidge and Sven a few meters away from them. He was internally happy when he saw how Sven took Keith and Pidge far away from them, as if to give them some kind of privacy.

-Lance, my boy. How are you? Sven told me something about you wanting to know more about Allura and Altea – he wanted to help but didn’t know how to do it. Sven didn’t tell him more information arguing that it should be Lance the one to ask him all he wanted to know. And knowing now what depression was, he was willing to wait until Lance was willing to ask what he truly wanted to ask.

-I could be better. I just discovered something and I have a theory, but I need more information and the only reliable source of information about Altea is you- which made Coran feel proud and also sad that nobody from his generation was still alive, since he couldn’t really count Allura since she forgot everything.

-Ok, ask me anything you want to know. I will try to answer as far as I know- he promised. He had talked with Romelle and knew the story of her colony and had a general idea of how the alteans were able to survive. Not many but just a few to start again.

-Ok, when we first met you told us you were the last alteans, but later we met Romelle and she was altean, which means that probably more alteans are all across the universe, right? Could there be a chance that one of the few original alteans was a royal that somehow managed to escape? – his theory now sounded crazy to his ears, but Coran looked so serious and deep in thinking that the probability was still there.

-The royal family consisted of King Alfor, the queen, Allura and his older brother. I know that King Alfor had a brother but just before destroying Daibazal Alfor and his brother fought. A very nasty discussion I might add, his own son turned his back on King Alfor and joined his uncle. Apart from us, they are the only royal alteans I could think of…- which brought back the question if they somehow had managed to escape somehow.

-What was the discussion about? – Lance was curious but before making a decision he needed more information about the royal family, more about Allura.

-Alfor wanted Allura to meet prince Lotor and had her marry him, to join Galras and Alteans. His brother wanted Allura to decide for herself once she was old enough. Personally I agreed with him, same as Allura’s older brother, who detested how much Zarkon wanted power, so we planned a way for them to get away from Alfor or a war was imminent. Sadly, I don’t know where they went or what happened to them since a little after that Allura and myself were put to sleep for thousand years – the paladin knew how much he was hurting his space uncle but he needed answers.

-Is there a possibility that his brother could open a wormhole? – it was a risky tactic but could be done if people were desperate enough, he guessed.

-As far as I know, he had the power but never really managed to create a stable one. That was the reason for Allura to be first in line to the throne. She had a power her brother did not, she could manage it better than him- which made his theory possible but difficult to achieve. A little miscalculation on Allura’s brother and he could end dead.

-Why do you ask? – he was already thinking in a reason but he wanted to hear if his theory was right. The boy in front of him was intelligent and had probably guessed what happened.

-I believe Allura’s brother somehow managed to create a wormhole. One close enough to Earth and spent time there, getting married and having a family- Humans could mutate, a few discoveries had shown how much humans changed. A slight difference in ears, hands and similar, were to be expected.

-Maybe… I am a descendant of her brother or from her uncle. If they had travelled together then maybe they formed a family. And it would explain why the blue lion was on Earth. The lions are connected to the royal family. Maybe Blue sensed Allura and since I was near, made us travel to her destination, to reunite with her. Because we are family– Coran looked doubtful but he admitted it made sense, in a creepy way, but it made sense.

-Lance, my boy… You know as well as I do, that your theory is near impossible. If you were altean then you would have pointy ears as we do, and you do not have them, the use of magic is rare even in full alteans like Romelle, me and Alfor. Rarer than having pointy ears for sure! What are the chances you could inherit magic? Very slim. I try not to be pessimistic but let’s think realistically- he wanted Lance to understand that magic was not easy to obtain, not even if they were royal members or not.

-Haggar wasn’t part of the royal family and could use magic…-but his statement was negated by Coran reminding him that Honerva used alchemy, some called it magic even when it wasn’t at that time. It was after she visited Oriande that she could truly use magic, but that was a little after Lotor was born and she was corrupted by quintessence.

-Alchemy, magic, it’s the same! It isn’t natural! Alchemy most people would consider it science! Even Pidge would agree with me– he also wanted to argue about how it was possible to inherit that trait even if it was in a minimal scale. The possibility was there, just Coran didn’t want to see it or maybe even believe in it. He believed him to be totally human, he didn’t want to accept he wasn’t fully human.

-Pidge is young, she has lots to learn. She knows nothing about alien cultures and in the end it is Hunk who usually wants to know more, even you prefer to know more about the other alien cultures. She just uses that knowledge to what needs to be done, most times saving us from peril- the older male looked older than Lance wanted to admit, he also seemed tired.

-Knowledge can be power Coran, she knows it, Hell, even _I_ know it. You don’t have to be a genius to see it! – it hurt to think he couldn’t consider himself intelligent, at least he wasn’t on the same page as Pidge or Hunk in terms of intelligence. Coran seemed to realize his mistake after watching Lance shoulders drop, seeing him trying to look smaller than he really was. He had hurt him unintentionally.

-I know, my boy. I know. But that was a knowledge that was lost centuries ago. Magic is rarer than you think, it requires certain abilities, and not everyone has them. People like Honerva, who wanted to do magic but didn’t have the abilities tried, lives were lost. Honerva lost herself and became Haggar after years of trying to use magic… What makes you think you are a natural with magic? – maybe if the younger boy could give him a satisfactory answer then he would accept his theory.

-Promise me, not to tell anyone else…- watching Lance so nervous he wasn’t so sure he wanted to know the answer, but the decision was made for him. –But I might be able to do magic- this was the right moment to interrupt him, to stop all this and change what was probably in his mind.

-What kind of magic? – curiosity was all Lance heard, no judgement, no criticism, nothing. He felt that maybe Coran could understand.

-The same magic as Allura. I can open wormholes, just… not voluntarily. – he explained to the best of his abilities how he knew Blue wished to reunite with Allura, the last royal member she knew, and how he just followed her lead, causing him to take off of Earth with Shiro and the rest to start an intergalactic war.

-Well, that can be explained. She had years of training with the best teachers of Altea, you on the other hand acted only on instincts. One wrong move and you could have killed everybody- Lance paled so much that Coran was afraid he was going to pass out, but it needed to be done. He should know how dangerous magic could be. How deathly it could become. He told him about how Daibazal was destroyed just because Honerva couldn’t understand that part and how she turned evil.

-Are you trying to tell me that I can become like Honerva? Kill everybody just for a personal wish? Do you have so little faith in me? – he was getting mad, he had trusted the male to understand, to accept that yes, he could make mistakes but wanted to correct them and make it better. –I believe, it was wrong of me to trust you with so much information. Excuse me. – he said while trying to think what to do now.

Altean knowledge came from Coran, Romelle knew next to nothing although he truly tried to obtain more knowledge to help him. If Coran had reacted like that, then what could he expect from the rest? Coran was always the voice of reason. A mediator of sorts. But now, he couldn’t trust him.

He wanted to go with Allura and Lotor, but his ghost pains came back. It seemed like life was being cruel to him, as if it were mocking him, but he showed nothing once he passed next to Coran. If he couldn’t trust him to believe in him, he didn’t deserve to be there when the pain became too much.

Coran also knew he had messed up, he saw the disappointed face of his favorite paladin and knew that trying to make it better was going to be worse, at least right now. But he still couldn’t believe such a theory. Because if his theory was correct then it meant that parallel universes were part of it, since a wormhole can lead to another universe if made incorrectly. They had truly been lucky Blue had arrived with Allura and not to another universe.

Lance tried to get more information from his small talk with Coran, he knew that with training then everything was possible. Maybe he should go back to Oriande to get more knowledge, to see if he could get a teacher or a way to control his altean powers.

The only people that managed to enter that time were Lotor and Allura, being the chosen ones. He would ask Allura first but she didn’t remember her past life, and he knew Lotor hadn’t managed to get the knowledge Allura obtained.

His best bet would be Lotor.

On the other hand, Pidge was still analyzing the samples she got from Lance. It seemed that yes, in fact he was 90% human and 10% altean before having the marks, according to the information the pods provided. However, the new samples had changed the percentage to 70% human and 30% altean, with probabilities of increasing his altean heritage.

Why or how did he managed to get that drastic change was the vital part. She was a woman of science, so there must be a logical explanation. And the only logical explanation she could find was that Allura gave him altean marks, probably changing his DNA as Romelle suggested and the reason she was so mortified of Lance with altean marks.

If Allura changed his DNA to increase his altean heritage, then she must have known he was part altean, sensed it somehow. If that was true, then it was cruel, since she didn’t explain Lance about his marks or how she was able to create them.

-Keith I believe _Allura knew_ Lance was altean, he had so little altean heritage that she had only increased it. That is the reason he didn’t have pointy ears at the Garrison, not even the altean marks. When Allura changed his DNA, some changes were to be expected, he got the marks and his ears got a little bit pointy, not noticeable though- she quickly added. Keith was getting frustrated, no new information was given and not a single satisfactory explanation was provided.

-You mean that contrary to me, he had so little altean DNA, that he somehow managed to fool the garrison and get the characteristically altean marks? – even Pidge couldn’t believe the explanation either. It was so fantastic and totally unrealistic to her, but evidence was on their side.

Keith debated about how to act. Allura discriminated him at the beginning for being half galra, but Lance didn’t get the same treatment just for being part altean, even if she didn’t really like him. It was unfair, although he understood why was it. Alteans were thought to be extinct but if he was part altean, and got together with Allura, they could get the race going, since Romelle and other refugees were still alive. It was a brilliant plan, dangerous as hell, but brilliant.

-Basically yes, with Allura’s help. She somehow changed the percentage of how altean was Lance, from 10% to 30% approximately. Of course, 30% is still very little so his ears didn’t change much, the most noticeable change was the marks. Probably other things changed too, but we need to know what exactly changed, and only Lance can tell us, and that is if he is willing to share- she admitted, because everybody knew how Lance was still unsure of telling them what was really happening to him.

-You know it sounds sick, right? How she could do that to him, knowing well how much he loves her- he wanted to said it in past tense, but he still loved the girl, more now than never since he had adopted her.

-Keith, you know that her race was everything for her. She was willing to kill to avenge her people. If a little part of Altea had survived and Lance was the physical representation of it, then so be it. She could put up with it. Remember when Lance asked her out on a date and I ended up helping him to get a prize while you were with Hunk? She opted for skipping the only chance they had to get a decent date. Next I knew he invited her to meet his parents, a little too fast for me, but Lance was always pretty straightforward. – and Keith knew it, he was still amazed that the blue paladin hadn’t broken up with her after being rejected so many times and for not even having a decent date.

-I know; I never forgave her for hurting him that way. Lance put a lot of himself into getting a date, even asking Coran about Altean courting costumes. I had to talk to him, get him to know how valuable he is. And he still doubted it. He always thought he was not enough for her, that he was just Lotor’s replacement, a convenient person in her life. And he was willing to accept it. So excuse me if I care about him- he said defensively, which made Pidge open her eyes in understanding.

-You like him. As in romantically speaking- his face was so red that she was afraid he was going to combust any minute now. They tended to joke about their rivalry and how it could become a romantic interest, but she never guessed it was true. At least for Keith, it really was.

-Yes, any problem with that? – he knew he was being rude but he needed her to understand that he was serious. He was really going to help him if he needed him.

-None. I was just going to tell you it was about time you admitted your crush- she laughed while showing him possible results.

Dying changing his abilities.

Possible Lance from another universe.

A dead Lance from abuse of quintessence.

The possibilities were endless.

And few of them were positive, usually it ended with deadly results.

-He needs to cooperate with us- Pidge and him knew it, but Coran had called and told them the utter failure he was. They were losing hope of getting to him, clearly Lance didn’t trust them, maybe he tolerated them but didn’t trust them anymore.

-But you and I know he won’t do it. Not right now. – she was getting frustrated. Lance was getting on her nerves. Talking was the solution, but he thought they didn’t care. Maybe they grew distant but it wasn’t their fault, everybody had different coping mechanisms.

-I know, and that gets to me. We have good intentions! – but sometimes only good intentions were not enough, they were soon discovering this.

-We all know it, but Lance isn’t fine. He can’t understand it unless given hard proof of our good intentions. Unfortunately, we don’t have any hard evidence of our good will, and I hate to brake it to you guys but the term “friendship” does not help our case. We have been horrible friends, the worst really. So, if he doesn’t want to accept our intentions, we can only continue to prove him that our intentions are real, maybe it can show how truthful they are- and Keith understood, but waiting wasn’t his forte. That was the reason Shiro was always telling him that _patience yields focus_. He had been blind to see it before, now he understood why Shiro said it. Patience was a characteristic he didn’t have, but was willing to try for Lance.

-Lance seems to hate us, even Coran didn’t get through him. Do you think…you will be able to do it? To get all the data you need? – he saw the mischievous smile and knew that Lance was going to know the real terror Pidge could cause to others. Even Shiro was scared of her sometimes.

-Of course. After all, he wants the answers too. That way we can cooperate and get what we want to know. It’s a win-win situation for everybody! – her enthusiasm made Keith believe in her.

After that brief exchange Pidge called Lance and told him possible causes of him being altean and what she thought was a possible answer to his questions. He still had doubts, so he preferred to do all the test Pidge suggested in order to really know what was happening to him.

The travel took very little time, since she was close just in case he changed his mind.

The physical evaluation took time and the results were something nobody was expecting. It showed Lance was 45% altean and 55% human, with changes along the way, some minor and some very drastic. It seemed that the minor changes were done when he was revived by Allura, and the heavy changes once she gave him the marks.

Now, Romelle had told them that changing DNA was near impossible and a heavy taboo where she lived, the more experimented in those topics were very old people and told her that it was a sin to modify someone without his consent, a feeling Lance deeply agreed. He had suffered for months just watching his marks and remembering his lost lover.

Giving him the marks boosted his altean heritage by almost 30%, Allura had truly wanted to keep her race going and knew Lance would at some point have a family even if it wasn’t with her. She was certain that her legacy would continue even without her.

And something broke inside Pidge when she saw his quintessence levels. Usually half-breeds had more quintessence than normal people, hence why they were better at some things. For example, Keith was better at fighting than most people gave him credit for. But in Lance’s case his levels were low even for a normal human like her.

That would mean he was dying.

And sadly enough, it seemed he already knew.

-You knew you were dying. That’s why you trusted Kolivan and Krolia to look after Lotor and Allura. Because you wouldn’t be able to do it- she wanted to cry. He had been preparing for the worst and hadn’t included them thinking they weren’t really on his side.

-That’s right. And I didn’t want you to know. I know my levels of quintessence are low, barely standing, that’s the main reason I want to go to Oriande and get some answers. I am certain that my pain ghost from when I died are because my quintessence is unstable and can’t maintain my body anymore. It is a matter of time before my death and I believe it is getting nearer. – he confessed to a crying Pidge, Keith had been listening, without commenting and that put Lance nervous.

-I can take you near Oriande, but you need to go there alone. Only the chosen ones can enter, remember? – and Lance was grateful to his friend. Keith was willing to go with him and give him silent support.

-We will be near in case you need anything! I can even prepare the pods in case of an emergency- she was determined to save Lance, and he knew it. All was possible, he was sure of it.

-Thank you, I’m counting on you guys. Krolia and Kolivan will be looking after Lotor and Allura with Sven’s help, they are going to need all the hands they can, since they can be a handful – he had wanted to ask Lotor about Oriande, but he was certain that the small prince would be able to know the reason.

And he felt bad enough about him knowing how he had died the first time.

-Then, let’s prepare, it is going to be a long journey. – Keith decided, getting the lions ready and provisions enough to last at least a year, even when the trip would take just a few days.

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my mother tongue, spanish is so please excuse if you find any grammar errors.  
> Feel free to point them out for me to fix it :)  
> Hope you enjoy the fic.


End file.
